Rough sleepers speak out about third lockdown struggles

By Owen Sheppard, local democracy reporter

Rough sleepers in the West End have spoken of their struggles during the third lockdown, and what life on the streets is like nearly a year on from when the pandemic began.

Twelve months ago, Victoria Station and Westminster Cathedral had a reputation as a hotspot for people sleeping in tents or under doorways.

Yesterday afternoon (February 3) a lap of the area on foot revealed that things were surprisingly different.

Sat in front of a Pret a Manger beside Victoria Station’s main entrance, 23-year-old Rorey Ennis told us: “It is quite quiet to be honest.

“It is more lonely than it used to be. You spend days waiting to speak to someone but sometimes you can’t.”

Originally from Birmingham, Mr Ennis has been sleeping rough “since I was 15 years old”, and has been in London for four years.

“I mostly hang around Victoria and Westminster and stayed here through all the lockdowns,” he said.

“I usually sleep in my mate’s tent by the cathedral. There are hostels, but I don’t go to them, I can’t be trusted in a property.

“I’m surviving by just doing it day by day. Sometimes people will pop into Pret to get you something.”

At 4.05pm in Piccadilly Circus, a man who asked not to be named said he had arrived in London from Cardiff two weeks ago.

“I don’t get any benefits,” said the man, age 52. “I rely on getting my food and money from donations. Today I’ve had a panini and a sausage roll and two coffees. I go to public toilets when I can, but they close at night.”

Like Mr Ennis, he said there were not many rough sleepers around Piccadilly Circus – an area where heavy footfall once made it an attractive location to pick up donations from passers by.

He continued: “There have been outreach people and that’s it… They tell you where to go for housing or where to get food and a tent or clothes.

“I keep myself to myself and I sometimes see more rough sleepers around Charing Cross station.

“At night time I’m mostly outside. Since I’ve been in London I’ve been able to sleep in a hostel twice. They’re often full.”

Asked whether he’s felt scared of catching Covid-19, he simply replied: “F*** the pandemic.”

At about 5.14pm, Boyd Seagal was waiting in The Strand with a dozen other homeless people, including his partner, for a group of volunteers to arrive who would set up tables and lay out free food.

The 31-year-old said: “My partner and I have been homeless together in London for about a year.

“I have moved around a lot but I have been homeless at different stages since I was six years old. I left London and carried on to Mansfield and Nottingham and then Chesterfield, Derbyshire and Scotland.”

Mr Seagal also suggested an answer as to why the capital’s historic centre appeared to have fewer rough sleepers than might have been expected.

“Recently my partner and I have been coming to Charing Cross every day,” he said. “We walk from Wandsworth and all the way back.

“We have been put in separate rooms in a hostel in Wandsworth for 28 days. We started there two weeks ago.

“You get showers and bits and pieces and a chance to do your washing.”

A joint study by the charity St Mungo’s and the Greater London Authority, called the Combined Homelessness And Information Network, shows that the number of people sleeping rough in the borough of Westminster fell markedly between July-September and October-December.

The number of rough sleepers counted by outreach workers during the last quarter of the year was 692, which was 208 fewer than the previous quarter.

This figure was also lower than when the same study was carried out in October-December 2019 – where 616 rough sleepers were spotted.

Petra Salva, St Mungo’s service director for Westminster, rough Sleeping and migrants said: “Since the ‘Everyone In’ initiative was launched last March, our teams in Westminster – in partnership with the local council – have been working round the clock to make sure as many people as possible are provided with accommodation so they are protected from Covid-19 as well as the other risks associated with being street homeless.

“And we know from [the data] that a significant reduction in the number of people sleeping rough in Westminster has been achieved.

“However this is not a static issue and there are people still coming to the streets who need and deserve immediate protection and long-term support.”

A Westminster Council currently has over 400 supported accommodation beds in use for homeless people, and a further 80 beds in two “assessment centres”.

The council also says it has helped 700 people into accommodation since March 2020.

Councillor Heather Acton, cabinet member for communities, said:  “Our outreach teams continued to work day and night over the Christmas period and will do so over cold winter spells.

“They will provide essential support tailored to each individual finding themselves living on the streets in Westminster.  Not only will this help them to access safe accommodation, but also essential mental health, drug and alcohol addiction services, work skills training and ultimately employment. Thus breaking the cycle of rough sleeping, offering long-term solutions rather than quick fixes.”

Mr Seagal told us more about the way out of “long term” homelessness that being in the Wandsworth shelter could bring.

“A lot of people can’t claim benefits because they don’t have a permanent address,” he said.

“At the hostel in Wandsworth there’s an outreach worker and they try to find somewhere for you to live and pay rent in.