Tent City in Park Hill

[medusa 16]

Is now an appropriate place to post a link to this year's Homeless Christmas Shoe Box Appeal?

 

Sheffield has very few (comparatively) people who sleep rough on the streets, but that means that in the greater scheme of things there are a higher number in temporary accommodation, in shelters, sofa surfing with mates and the like. In our opinion all of these groups should be treated as real human beings, and that includes at Christmas.

 

Our aim is to get a box of presents filled with day to day basics and little luxuries and a Christmas card, to every one of the people who have nothing and are unlikely to receive a present from anywhere else.

 

Members of the public can donate a decorated shoe box (or other similar sized box) of caring things to this appeal by taking their box to one of the drop off points before Saturday 10 December, and we will ensure that it gets taken to one of the organisations that helps them out through the whole year.

 

The appeal can be found here and we look forward to meeting lots of you over the coming weeks.

[Deedah64 10]

Why is it the government's job to find people somewhere to live?

 

If you want somewhere to live, get a job, put some money aside and use it to either put down a deposit on a house or rent somewhere. Just like millions of decent hoard-working people do. If I were renting a property in Park Hill I'd be doing everything I could to get rid of these lowlifes.

 

I agree Randy this perpetuates all the way through our lives - at school the clever kids were well looked after the not so clever kids got special treatment while us in the middle were left to fend for ourselves and so it is with housing the clever/rich people live in their big houses the not so clever/homeless people get fussed after and once again we grafters have to make the best of what we've got.

(I'm not suggesting that all clever people are rich and all not so clever people are homeless I just hope everybody gets the gist of what I'm trying to say)

[samssong 10]

Why is it the government's job to find people somewhere to live?

 

If you want somewhere to live, get a job, put some money aside and use it to either put down a deposit on a house or rent somewhere. Just like millions of decent hoard-working people do. If I were renting a property in Park Hill I'd be doing everything I could to get rid of these lowlifes.

Hoard just about sums it up.

[Cycleracer 10]

Hoard just about sums it up.

 

Low live's are the people that rob you and your family and friends, people that break the law and in prison for committing a crime.

Homelss people are people down on there luck and not lowlifes at all

[Deedah64 10]

If only it was that simple. Many ex servicemen or servicewoman often struggle to cope with life been an civilian if you joined at 16 spent most of your adult life in the forces then you come out it is a huge shock. To give a example an food bank was payed an visit by a young Iraq veteran he arrived wearing dirty clothes no footwear he had walked over ten miles to the food bank. He had no money hadn't played any bills has he had never had to do it before as he had enlisted at 16 straight from home. So please remember that homeless guy who you just walked past might have actually served his country or is he still an lowlife in your eyes?

 

That sounds like a made up story

[crookedspire 10]

That sounds like a made up story

 

I know it to be fact unfortunately.

[Anna B 1,412]

Sale or rent , my point still stands.

 

No one is going to want to rent a £600 a month apartment with a a load of tents outside the front window.

 

I bet the people in the tents don't want to be there either...

[crookedspire 10]

From what Iv seen in press photos the tents are in the derelict section of Park Hill away from the refurbished block. For all their faults if the council had kept Park Hill going it would have helped to house many in need.

[damageandy 10]

I agree Randy this perpetuates all the way through our lives - at school the clever kids were well looked after the not so clever kids got special treatment while us in the middle were left to fend for ourselves and so it is with housing the clever/rich people live in their big houses the not so clever/homeless people get fussed after and once again we grafters have to make the best of what we've got.

(I'm not suggesting that all clever people are rich and all not so clever people are homeless I just hope everybody gets the gist of what I'm trying to say)

 

i understand, you are trying to tell everyone that you are a vile person with no empathy or compassion for other people.

[Bob Arctor 11]

I'm sorry, but just because you can't find somewhere affordable to live doesn't make you a lowlife.

 

I've got friends who are working but who can't afford to rent at the moment. The bond up front costs of taking on a rented house are over £1000 in bond, rent, paying for checks and references to be done (repeatedly) and some people just don't have that in savings that they can use.

 

I couldn't find £650 a month in rent, which is what houses in our street are being rented for. That would be over half of my income even without insurance, council tax and utilities.

 

If you can't see quite how small the changes in your life would need to be in order for you to find yourself in housing difficulties then you are clearly just refusing to look. For most people the concept of a small change in their life resulting in them being dumped into what most people would call the nightmare of homelessness is very small, and utterly terrifying.

 

Illness (physical and mental), redundancy, injuries from an accident meaning that you can't work (even temporarily), grief from loss of a loved one; there are lots of circumstances beyond our control which could make us suddenly unable to maintain the payment for housing.

 

Do you automatically stop being a member of society and start being a 'lowlife' if your partner dies and you struggle to cope with the loss, or would it be a different case if it happened to you?

 

An excellent post Medusa. Randy appears to have led a sheltered life and doesn't understand why it's not so straightforward for everyone.

[Starlc 11]

£600 a month to live i a bad area, great stuff !

[SkylinePhoto 10]

The homeless are put at the top of the queue (Band A) for accommodation at the council. But some find it difficult to maintain a tenancy agreement for whatever reason.

 

The fatal mistake is that when people apply for housing benefit, they get an option to have the rent paid to them or directly to the landlord.

 

Unfortunately, the temptation of having £400-£500 monthly paid into their account is just too much. They then dont use the money for rent and then get evicted. This then doesnt entitle them to priority accomodation anymore.

 

There would be less homelessness if this option was taken away from housing benefit applications.

 

But you can only do so much to help people. Sometimes they are the only people that can make that change for them.