Homelessless Morning 1

Last night me and Gerald packed all of our things and got ready for the first night of homelessless. I wore a pair of corduroy brown trousers, 2 pairs of socks warn together, an old pair of trainers, 2 jumpers, a t-shirt and a thin partially waterproof jacket. In my backpack I had 1ltr of water, my sleeping bag, a book to read, my journal, cards, toilet paper, 4 slices of beer bread donated by Gerald's house mate and an emergency note in case there was any trouble (though this never got spent). Gerald worse 2 pairs of socks, old trainers, a pair of thin trousers, a t-shirt, a thick jumper and brought a waterproof. In his backpack he had 1ltr of water, a penknife, a lighter, aluminium foil, a journal, a book on survival, a book on foraging in Britain, his sleeping bag and a spare book to read. We took no change of clothes and nothing to wash with besides toothbrushes and paste, we also had no mobile phones, wallet, identification or money we were allowed to spend. We were now packed up lightly and ready for our first night on the street.

Before starting homelessless we went round to a friend's house to have a final meal of a pizza and two beers. It was good to enjoy that final meal, knowing that from here-on we would have to find or beg for anything we ate. Whilst eating we watched a film called 'into the wild' by Sean Penn. It is about a guy, about our age, who leaves society and all of his responsibilities to live alone in the wild of Alaska. The film often shows the affects of this on the family of this guy, and I remember hoping that my own parents don't worry whilst we fend for ourselves on the street. Other that that, it was a good introduction to sleeping rough.

We left our friend's house about 12am and spent the next hour or so searching for a place to sleep. We wanted somewhere with as many walls as possible, a roof and somewhere we wouldn't be disturbed or threatened in the night. It took about an hour to find a place, but eventually we found a fire exit at the back of the Westgate Shopping Centre. I remember being worried how people might think as we climbed up the stairs. The site was in front of a local gay bar, which played loud music til 3am, and some of the people smoking outside must have noticed us going up there. The escape was wide with a concrete floor; it had a roof and two walls on either side of us. Me and Gerald found some cardboard outside a cafe and laid them across the cold concrete. We then set up our sleeping bags on top and decided to go to sleep. Between traffic and the loud music it was difficult to first get to sleep, but eventually we nodded off listening to singers like Shakira, Michael Jackson and Madonna. The floor itself was far more comfortable than I imagined, and the night was warm (though I felt the chill on my feet and face). I think I managed to get six hours of disturbed sleep, Gerald less so.

In the morning I walked five minutes away to go to the toilet at the bus station. I then returned and we ate our bread from Gerald's flat mate. I remember feeling so grateful that we had a breakfast prepared for us. It was plain, but I treasured the beer bread more than I would have a full English a week earlier. I do however remember really wanting a coffee - I think this habit will be hard to break.After we had finished journalling and packed up our sleeping bags the cleaner from the Westgate came up. he was friendly, but wanted us to move on and take our cardboard (which we had planned to do). He was quite happy for us to sleep there again one day, but told us to look out for needles where others had slept. We recycled our cardboard and set out for our first day feeling it strange yet exciting that project homelessless was actually happening.

Update:

Since starting this blog I became a Counsellor. You can read more on blog on subjects like Therapy at:

 www.simonslistening.co.uk