EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 12

CHRISTMAS 1997

In
&
Around
LONDON

My name is Steve and I'm 22. I've been in London about 7 years. I hitch-hiked down from Scotland when I was young. Life in London isn't all it's cracked up to be. If you can't live life in the fast lane you're in trouble. Being on the streets, it's not a good life down here, its pretty rubbish. As far as growing up is concerned, I never really had much of an education. I left school when I was 9, I was in care from the age of 9. Most of my growing up was done down here, I've been down here for 7 or 8 years just trying to make a go of it, but I haven't really had much luck so far. Basically, it was because I didn't like school, I just never want back, I hated school, I just wasn't into it at all. I came to London when I was 15. I've seen a big change in London in the past 7 years. When I first came, things were alright, you could make money, people were genuine, alright, kind with you, but now its full of arrogance, people walk past, you ask them for change, and their telling you to f.... off and stuff like that, its not very nice at all

My hobbies are karate, boxing, golf and chess. I've got quite a big range of interests, and I do begging of course. The average I'll make on a good day begging, on a really good day is about £40. Sometimes I make more, but not very often. Begging just really went bad in London, it's just not good anymore. The time I normally wake up varies really depending on what time I go to bed at night. Last night I went to bed at 5 o clock this morning, and I woke up at 1.30pm. If I'm awake all night, I just sit down here with my friends, we have a couple of cans of beer occasionally, have a laugh and a chat, keep ourselves occupied, keep our minds occupied. We'd rather smile than cry so we try our best to keep ourselves amused. I've got a lot more acquaintances than I have friends. An acquaintance to me is someone who I class as a friend, but not like a friend-friend, if you know what I mean, like someone I've known for years, an acquaintance is someone I get on with but I haven't known them for all that long. John, sitting over there, he's a friend of mine, I've known him for a few years. My girlfriend, I've known her for about 3 years, I've been going out with her for 2 or 3 months now, things are going okay.

My opinion of the new government, if you'll excuse the pun, it sucks! Tony Blair is full rubbish, he's going on saying he's going to end homelessness by the new millennium, and he's just full if rubbish, that's something your never going to be able to do. Your never going to end homelessness regardless, you've always got new kids coming on the streets. The new criminal justice bill, its just all these new laws and a lot of it is just targeted at the homeless. If you're seen looking like you're begging, you don't even have to be caught begging, if your seen looking like your begging, with a sleeping bag around you in a street doorway you will get arrested under the Vagrancy Act, you can be done for obstructing a public highway. Me personally, I find that's downright out of order, its not fair at all.
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I haven't seen my dad in about 3 years, he's staying up in Manchester. I want to go and see him. I don't stay with my mum because we both like to get the upper-hand in an argument. We argue a lot and when that happens it just all goes crazy. We argue a lot when we see each other and I can't stay there because of it. I'd love to see my dad, and I know my dad would love to see me, I miss my dad like crazy, my dad's new wife Rosemary, and my little step-sister Melissa. Melissa is 7 now and I want to see her, I've only seen her twice.

Its about time I got out of London, I'm really sick of it. I've been here for a long time and I'm really fed up with it. When I get to Manchester I'll probably stay with my Dad, if not straight away, I'd get into a bed and breakfast.

I would like to thank Edges magazine, for helping me get to Manchester, it is much appreciated and God Bless.

During the time I've been in London I've had a lot of grief, a lot of hassle, at times I've been sitting begging, I've had people walk past who've been really abusive towards me, swear at me, spit on me, I've had a couple of people go to hit me, I've been lying in my sleeping bag asleep under blankets and I've been kicked in the face a couple of times. I do get up and fight back but its not very nice. It's bad enough as it is that you're out here in the cold, trying to earn a living without somebody coming up and giving you hassle. People really look down on you because you're homeless, they think your scum, you've not got a job, you've not got a house, you're not as good as us, we're better than you, it's very out of order. There is a lot of grief to be had in London if you're homeless and that's one of the reasons I want to get out as well.

It was very frightening for me when I first came to London, I was young and a lot of people were trying to take advantage of me. It was a very frightening experience.

Hi I'm Kerry and I am 19 years of age. I was born in Lisburn in Northern Ireland and moved to London when I was 3 years old. I've been on the streets for 7 years. I ran away from home, because I was getting abused at home and it got too much so I ran away. I've lived on the streets for 7 years and I've always enjoyed myself but I've had some really hard times as well.

I used to be into the drugs and all that but I'm clean now. I was on heroin for four years, I was taking a quarter of an ounce per day which is a lot and I was doing crack on top of that. I went into a hospital for detox. The detox was for 14 days, I came out on day 15, it was the Mawdsley Hospital in Denmark Hill. They just put you on these tablets which knock you out all the time, they make you really drowsy if you take a lot of them.

By Christmas I am hoping to be out of London. I'd like to thank the magazine for supplying me with a ticket to go to Manchester. I've got a lot of friends in Manchester and my boyfriend has relatives up there.

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US. Steve and Kerry thank Edges for paying their tickets from London back to Manchester. Steve deperately wanted to meet up with his father who lives in Manchester and we stepped in to help him and his girlfriend out.

EDGES ON THE STREETS

Edges magazine makes contact with various people living on the streets of our capital city. Many are young and their lives lack direction and purpose,


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. Material Copyright © 1997 THOMAS (Those on the Margins of a Society)
THOMAS is an integral part of Catholic Welfare Societies, Registered Charity number 503102