This morning I managed to stay in bed until 6.50am, the longest lie in I have had all week. My frozen shoulder has been really troublesome and is affecting the length of time I can sleep. Work have benefitted greatly, as I've been at my comfy desk chair by 6am most mornings, but I've been a bit down the last couple of days. This morning was the most painful it has been, so I was feeling very sorry for myself. Feeling down already I started to think about everyone who must have far worse pain than this on a daily basis, with no propsect of it getting any better.
The sun was out though, and it was time to put on a brave face. I found my iPod the other day so I could listen to feelgood music while getting on with some paperwork. I managed a first listen to Annie Lennox's 'A Christmas Cornucopia'. This was just what was needed. A loud cheery sing-a-long to Christmas carols with a twist while looking at the sunny May morning outside the window. After that I took pot luck and put the iPod on Shuffle. The first song on was Ralph McTell's 'Streets of London', and suddenly, although I was at risk of running out of tissues, I realised how good things really were for me.
Have you seen the old man
In the closed-down market
Kicking up the paper,
with his worn out shoes?
In his eyes you see no pride
Hand held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news.
I have a wardrobe full of shoes that I hardly ever wear. I wear the same 2-3 pairs day in day out, and it takes years to wear them out because I spend as much time as possible being comfortable in my slippers at home. Just over two years ago I spent the most I'd ever spent on a pair of shoes. (They were about £80. Not a lot for a lot of people but for me it was a fortune). For about 8 months of each of the following two years I wore these shoes practically every day, whether I was climbing up hills or going to a wedding. This year I got them out again and apart from looking a bit battered the soles had started to wear through. I decided that based on a 'cost per wear' calculation they had probably been good value, but when I tentatively went to enquire about the cost of a new pair I found they had been discontinued. I was disappointed, but what a thing to be disappointed about! I'm lucky, I have plenty more pairs to choose from.
The "In his eyes you see no pride" was thought provoking. How long do people have to be down for to completely lose pride in themselves? You can visit any town and find someone passing time in this way, on their own and with nothing rewarding to do. I wonder if there has been a gradual change, or has there been a specific life event that has 'helped' them along to this stage in their lives? Do they have something they can look forward to? Is tomorrow going to be just the same as today? Vulnerable people that are on their own without support can expect less and less help due to the ongoing government cuts. Day centres and support groups are closing around us, and if these people didn't have mental health problems to start with I suspect they they would soon start to experience problems. Eighteen months ago I would have argued that keeping the support groups going would be the cheaper option for the government, to prevent people deteriorating and needing more assistance from the NHS or the benefits system. I must have been very naive. Recent cuts to the NHS and benefits system have shown that whatever help a lot of people need, they just aren't going to get it. I have often seen people sat with a polystyrene cup at their feet asking for money, and I have been reluctant to help, thinking it could be used for their next fix. More and more times now I see people and see their desperation for a hot meal.
Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags?
She's no time for talking,
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags.
I could fill two carrier bags with the possessions I have scattered on my bedroom floor at the moment. This 'old girl' must have at least as many aches and pains as I do, and I'd struggle walking up to the village shops with a couple of heavy bags just now. Where I lived as a child we had a village 'tramp'. I don't know how the system had failed him, or how much of it was a lifestyle choice (I know a strange one but in those days there were hostels open that people could get a bed at). Nowadays you hear stories of people who have had a job and a house, been married and had children, and their lives have changed beyond recognition, with them ending up sleeping on the streets. I haven't got the answers (although I'm confident a change in government wouldn't be a bad thing) but how can these people get themselves out of their situations, or how can we give them the support to be able to do this? In my 45 years I have only slept rough on one occasion. It was by choice - we either slept rough or missed the end of the Farewell GLC Jobs for a Change Concert in London in 1985 in order to catch the train home. We chose the night in Battersea Park, and although it was a glorious day in July it was incredibly cold, and everytime I found a decent bench to lie down on I couldn't sleep as I was convinced the rats would come and eat me. People have to cope with this every night, whatever the weather. Again, certainly in Bury, not too long ago there was no need for anyone to sleep rough. There were enough beds in short term hostel accommodation for anyone who needed one. I very much doubt that is the case now.
 |
| Ken Livingstone, 1985 |
In the all night cafe
At a quarter past eleven,
Same old man is sitting there on his own
Looking at the world
Over the rim of his tea-cup,
Each tea last an hour
Then he wanders home alone.
I've passed time sitting with a cup of tea in a coffee shop on many occasion. As I'm trying to cut back a bit, and it never fails to amaze me how much places can charge for a value teabag and some boiling water, I do think twice. However, these places have their uses when I'm killing time and want to sit down somewhere warm and dry. This man may have had no electricity to be able to make his own cuppa. I haven't had an electricity meter but my daughter tells me you can't just put a small amount of money on them. When living on benefits, especially the benefits that have recently been reduced so much, at the end of the week choices need to be made. Heating or food? And that is if there is money left for either of those. A cup of tea late at night in a cafe could provide a much needed hot drink somewhere warm, with some sort of company even if it is only the interaction when ordering a drink, before going back to a cold bleak bedsit.
And have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman's mission
Memory fading with
The medal ribbons that he wears.
In our winter city,
The rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world that doesn't care.
It isn't just our heros that this government is trying to forget; it is whole groups of our society. These are groups that need and deserve help, and you can take away their rights, their benefits, their healthcare and their self-respect but they are still going to be there. What are those with the power to make the required changes going to do about them? I recently thought I was helping someone living in supported housing that was being encouraged to 'bid' for a council flat. They really didn't want to live in the areas where flats for single people were available as they didn't know anyone and would have to travel to be near and have the support of their friends and family.They would also have to travel if they were lucky enough to find work. They needed one bedroomed accommodation for Housing Benefit to even contemplate covering the cost. I managed to find a tiny one bedded house in the right area, and the cost worked out at less than Housing Benefit would have paid for the council flat. I was fortunate enough to be able to help with the deposit and the rent in advance, and the letting agency agreed they would rent the house to a tenant out of work.
The next stop was to get a definitive answer about Housing Benefit. I found that in 2008 a Local Housing Allowance was brought in for tenants who privately rented their accommodation. This was sold as being beneficial to people, giving them the flexibility to choose what was right for them. In 2011 rates were vastly reduced, and from January 2012 in Bury a single person could only receive an allowance to live in one roomed shared accommodation, currently £46.15 a week in my area. All our hopes were dashed as there was no way this property could now be rented. We looked elsewhere, and the cheapest single room we found in Bury, in a house with a shared bathroom and kitchen was £65 a week. I'm thinking of block booking a room next time there is a Travelodge sale. For not much more than this, this person would get a double room with a bathroom, all heating an electricity, a TV and have tea and coffee provided. How can this be right, and how are they going to be able to better themselves?
I am well aware that some people don't help themselves, but I cannot believe that the majority have chosen to be in the situation they have found themselves in, and the way things are I can't think how they can escape. I work hard and I work full time, but like everyone else my bills are rising, I have had no pay rise for two years, my pay is frozen, and I have just had a big increase to the contributions I make to my pension. However, I am lucky that there are cuts I can make. If necessary I can cancel my gym membership, I don't need an iPhone contract, and I can stop drinking altogether, instead of my cut back to Asda 3 for £10 wine. Others aren't so lucky.
My GP has advised me to see an NHS physiotherapist and assured me the wait won't be long. If it was though I could make some cuts and see a private practitioner. If I'm in pain I can go to the pharmacist and buy a strong painkiller.
When I get down I can pick up the phone and speak to friends and family who I know are there for me. So many people haven't anyone they can call even if they had the phone. I can go out for a walk and will always have someone I can stop and speak to. That wouldn't be so easy if I hadn't been able to shower for weeks and was wearing all the clothes I owned. When I've done that I can come home, snuggle on the sofa and watch a feelgood DVD. That is such a little thing that we take for granted, but so many people would love to do that, and can't.
I can't do much for people, and my voluntary work tends to be with youngsters who are actually really privileged, getting them to appreciate the outdoors instead of getting too attached to their games consoles. A few minutes listening to my iPod this morning though has certainly given me food for thought. The fact that you are reading this now indicates that you have privileges that many don't.
Next time you see someone like those described in the song, spare a thought for how they may have found themselves in that situation, and how lucky you are. Have a think if there is any small way you can help. Just a few words of kindness can help, it doesn't have to cost anything.
I can't say I'm lonely, and the sun has been shining on me all my life which I am hugely grateful for and do not take for granted. I am very lucky.
Finally, one way to help is to have a say in how the country and your local Council is run. You can't have this if you don't vote. In Bury just one third of people had their say and voted last week. People need to lose this apathy, and if we can find a way of getting normal people to show their dissatisfaction in the ways things are going for this country, in 2015 we may get the chance to start the long process of putting things right again.
So how can you tell me you're lonely,
And say for you that the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something to make you change your mind .
Link to Streets of London
