Tale of a homeless Croydon couple – and a two-year battle for survival

Pushing his partner of 27 years along the greyscale streets surrounding Wellesley Road, Shane Dyson turns and says: “You do get some nice people, but the problem is that everyone thinks you’re the same if you’re homeless. It’s horrible.

“We would be happy with even just a room, somewhere to stay at night. I don’t sleep properly because I’m constantly worrying about people starting on us.”

Mr Dyson, 43, and his partner Annmarie McDonagh, 50, were this week on their way to find somewhere to shelter from the cold and wet mid-April weather. They have been homeless and living on the street for the last two years.

They say that despite their constant efforts and complex disability needs, they feel forgotten and left to fend for themselves every day.

Things have not always been like this for them, and their fall into homelessness reveals much about disability access, housing, and crime across the borough.

The pair met in Croydon’s Shrublands estate almost 30 years ago, and ever since they have been inseparable. Five years ago, the pair were staying together in the home of Ms McDonagh’s mother.

However, when she died, the pair lost their accommodation and began their cycle of intermittent homelessness. Mr Dyson had previously made a living as a satellite installation specialist and handyman but was forced into a full-time carer role when his partner became wheelchair-bound three years ago.

He said: “She went into hospital with stomach ulcers but it turned out she had blood poisoning and had seven aneurysms in her brain, which meant seven brain operations and keyhole surgery. During the operation, they popped her artery and she lost her leg because of that.”

A brief ray of hope came in the form of the shared accommodation the pair inhabited in South Croydon’s Dornton Road more than two years ago. This property, run by Caridon Property, but leased to them as temporary accommodation by Croydon council, was adapted for wheelchair accessibility and suited Annmarie’s needs.

However, hopes of a stable future were dashed after the pair returned home from the shops to find they had been locked out of the property and not allowed back in. Furthermore, despite communication with Caridon, the pair have not been able to retrieve their property, which sat on the other side of the locked door.

Mr Dyson, who born in Croydon, said: “We just went out for our monthly shop. When we got back, we weren’t able to get anything back as they boarded up the house.”

“When workers came round the day before, we asked them for help installing a curtain rail so they could have told us about the eviction then. It just came out of nowhere, it was a shock. They said to come back and we will let you us but they never did.”

“We were going from Caridon to the council and back and forth. Now the council are even denying that we were tenants there, we can prove we’re tenants. I had my mail going there from my bank account going there.”

According to Mr Dyson, the pair were never given a reason for their eviction. He insists they never had an issue with any other tenants nor received any complaints from the landlord during their five months of staying there.

However, a spokesman from Caridon said: “It’s important to clarify that while Caridon Property Ltd manages some of the flats in the building, the specific unit in question is leased to the local council for temporary emergency accommodation. The couple mentioned were occupants under a license to occupy with the council as their landlord, not with Caridon.”

The couple have been working with a Croydon-based volunteer named Avril since their eviction two years ago. Avril believes the pair have suffered because of mistakes made by the Council.

She said: “When I spoke to the adult social workers at the council about Annmarie’s needs I was given, what I would call, the royal run around. One social worker said they were not helping her and the next said they were.”

“I have actually got a letter from Caridon, addressed to Sarah Jones MP, saying they don’t know who they are and that they don’t exist on the system. I have been down to the house where they were staying to prove it does exist.”

Avril believes the lack of proper support from either party has helped to perpetuate the situation and believes they still have questions to answer. She asked: “Where are the couple’s clothes, family pictures, TV. This couple has been  going into the council  all  the  time to ask for help, but they get no help.”

In a statement, Caridon said: “The decision to terminate their accommodation was made by the council nearly two years ago, and they were provided with a two-week extension following the cancellation of their placement to allow time to remove their belongings.”

It has been so far impossible to find alternative lodgings. Mr Dyson said: “We spoke to a few people in the council about housing and they have said that we have to find the property. We have got no access to the internet and we’re not good readers and writers, it’s just tough.”

Shockingly, he lost his eye after being stabbed in the face a number of years ago. Yet this was just one example of the extreme violence the pair faced whilst sleeping rough on the streets of Croydon.

Mr Dyson said: “About two years ago in the subway opposite the tram station, two gangs of boys were fighting with each other when we were asleep in the subway. They threw a liquid on me that turned out to be acid, and it paralyzed my left hand.

“Another time I was pushing Annmarie through the alleyway in South Croydon, and because we didn’t come through there quick enough for them they started attacking us with knuckle dusters. I was hit about 40 times for just trying to get my partner out of there.

“Croydon is a very dangerous place. Especially at night, It’s really scary.

“On top of that, all of our stuff keeps getting nicked, we’ve had about five tents nicked in six weeks. You get up to go for a toilet and it just goes. It’s often just other homeless people.”

Among the personal items frequently stolen are the couple’s ID’s. Their absence means that it becomes almost impossible for them to pick up the vital medication they need for their various disabilities.

Mr Dyson added: “All we’ve got is what we stand in. We will have to go around trying to get some more blankets sometimes people buy us a tent.”

Recent data from the Department for Levelling Up  Housing and Communities, in March 2024, estimated 19 people were sleeping rough in Croydon  – down from 31 last year. This count, based on a snapshot of a single night in autumn last year, includes people sleeping outside but does not cover sofa surfers, those in hostels or shelters, or people in traveller sites, and figures are generally considered to be an undercount of the true number.

Despite their daily battle for food, shelter, medication, and security the pair insist they still encounter human kindness and empathy for their situation.

Mr Dyson said: “Manners don’t cost nothing, some of these security guards treat you with respect. They know who is who and who causes the trouble. We just try and keep quiet and get through the day the best we can.”

Ms McDonagh, born in Galway before moving to the UK in the 1980s, said: “He’s a good one, he’s always been kind to me.”

A spokesperson for Croydon council said: “This couple have been supported by housing, adult services and the council’s outreach partners over a period of time, to support them into suitable and safe accommodation.

“Our homelessness teams and partner outreach organisations regularly speak to rough sleepers, many of whom have very complex needs, to signpost them to a range of services and support them safely off the streets. More than half of the rough sleepers we engage with do not spend a second night on the streets owing to our interventions to provide safe accommodation.

“Like other London boroughs, Croydon has seen an increase in rough sleeping and we have a developed a support pathway to work with these vulnerable members of our community. We are also developing a new homelessness and rough sleeper strategy that will set out our ambitions to prevent and relieve homelessness over the next five years.”