October 2023

A few days ago, I was coming from the train station and happened to bump into a neighbor who was carrying empty cardboard boxes from the local Sainsburys. I didn’t ask him what they were for and we simply talked about what was on for dinner that night.   

Yesterday, I bumped into him again.  

I had the gall to ask if those boxes he was carrying the other day meant that he was moving.  

“Yes” he said. “My landlord gave me a Section 21 notice. No fault eviction, just that he wanted his flat back.”. 

He was royally pissed off. My friend, not the landlord.  

I asked him if he had a place to live yet and he told me no. I answered with the standard “everything will be okay.”.  

He looked at me with stern eyes and said, “not until I have a set of keys in my hand.” 

This was not a unique conversation I had lately. Another friend was given a Section 21 notice too. 

This is not good. 

The increasing threat of homelessness and its impact on a vast range of people and communities, is an issue that in turn, affects all our lives to the core. 

24,060 households approached their council and were found to be threatened due to receiving a valid section 21 in 2022. This is 50% more  than the year before, being 16,030.(Shelter.org.uk). And today, I doubt very much that number has gone down.  

I genuinely thought in 2003, when I was made homeless, that the hostels would be much like what you see on TV. Dormitories with rows of beds, sharing a large space with people you have never met before and the urban legend of my neighbors nicking my shoes to leave me walking the streets of London in bare feet.  

I did not have to share a massive dorm with opportunists looking out to harm me. Instead, my room was safe and warm and I had the option of eating twice a day at the canteen. 

Anecdotal stories would tell me differently. For example, some of the large hostels in London have their own micro-communities, with sex workings, drug dealing and exploitation of those who may not stand their ground as well as others.  

In view of that, if I were in government, I think I would rethink the whole Section 21 thing and ensure that a home can truly be a home for life, rather than a convenience for profiteering landlords, which can leave tenants with nary a clue of where the next place will be for them to sleep.  

I would certainly remove the Benefit Cap so if people do find themselves at risk of being homeless, they have the security to live where they belong. In the same area as their family, close friends, and/or work.  

Hopefully, the increasing numbers of people at risk of homelessness will help lobby the government to offer a more sympathetic ear and make finding a safe place to call our own a much easier process. 

Hell, living in a homeless hostel for years is not acceptable.  

After all, isn’t having a stable and safe place to live one of the cornerstones of the Universal Declarations of Human Rights? 

Where do I come from?

1967, France, standard education.

Waiter, sailor, hospitality, support worker.

Married, divorced, pretty vagrant, addiction and recovery.

REALITY.

How did I get there?

Car, train, auto-pilot.

Flight, walk, hitch-hiking,

Running. Walking.

Any ideas. Breathing…

Inputs contributed to own journey?

Ancestry, heraldry, parents, grandparents, booze, recovery.

Marriage. Divorce. Goodness.

Madness, NVQ 3 in Care. Validity.

Most significant experience I have had?

SCT activities, creative writing,

Art, computer skill in progress.

Groundswell, Community Reporter, unreal,

Please do pinch me? Ouch. To be continued.

What is the best decision have I ever made?

Job in the UK. Marriage, divorce.

27 years in care. Ups and downs.

Understanding who am I?

Not a clue, getting there.

There is always light at the end of many tunnels.

There is always hope even if the road is blocked.

Community reporter

At Groundswell, gratitude to

You all. Never give up, never

Give in… Bravery.

Motivation?

2018 in recovery, help always at hand. Meeting the third kind,

Progression not perfection.

Integrity, drop by drop.

Gratitude. Respect.

A superpower?

Recovery, people, places. Things.

Friends, SCT. Groundswell.

Hope, experiences, strength.

Another life, another story.

My life is mine, not yours.

By Max Cavalera, Soulfly Tribe.

Gratitude to you all.