Refuse or Refuge Bins?

It’s been a long, cold winter in Brighton & Hove with ice, snow, Arctic winds, freezing temperatures and leaden skies. But in the last two or three weeks the weather has changed abruptly with balmy, shirt-sleeve temperatures. In Hove Park there are acres of bright daffodils, trees erupting with pink and white blossom, families strolling, ball games everywhere. At Brighton Marina, the All England Squid Fishing Championships took place off the wall three days ago, with nine squid caught

Summer is coming! And the change of weather has brought a long-awaited change in the fortunes of the seafront traders, with ice creams and candy floss, sunglasses, buckets and spades in demand again. 

Soon, with the warmer weather, the number of homeless in the city will rise sharply. It’s the same every year. In the depths of winter, the seafront soup run organised by the St Vincent de Paul Society near the Palace Pier has an average of 15-25 customers each night, but that will rise to 60 or more over the summer months.   

An article in Friday’s local Argus newspaper by Julian Haddow, the Manager of Project Antifreeze, a homeless charity project, was illuminating: of 68 rough sleeper clients in his centre last week, only 22 (32%) had a local connection with Brighton & Hove (and therefore any hopes of qualifying for local authority housing). Fifteen (22%) were from outside the UK, about half being economic migrants.

Obviously, rough sleepers sleep rough for a variety of reasons, including relationship breakdowns, redundancy, mental health issues, addiction, abuse, low self worth – it’s rarely through choice. The 18 rough sleepers that I met during the Sacred Heart Church Winter Night Shelter, admittedly pre-screened, seemed no different to my own friends and family. They were well turned-out considering their circumstances, pleasant, considerate, some were gregarious and funny, others introverted or melancholic. All appreciated the food, warmth, comfort and safety of our church shelter.

There can be a temptation to view rough sleepers negatively, especially after experiencing those few who beg openly or appear under the effect of intoxicants. It’s easy to forget what a lonely, cold, uncomfortable and dangerous life it can be.

Fortunately, Brighton & Hove City Council reminds us.

Many city centre streets have large communal rubbish bins like this:

But, when you look closer, you see a notice warning people not to crawl into the bins and sleep inside. This is because, about four years ago, a homeless man sleeping in a bin narrowly escaped death after he was nearly dropped into a waste truck’s crusher.

You have to be really desperate to sleep in a rubbish bin!  Sleeping rough generally is no fun, even in fine weather. If we can’t help the homeless directly, it’s often possible to help those organisations that help the homeless. And one of these whose work I have experienced personally is Off The Fence, a charity based on Christian principles, whose project – Project Antifreeze – I mentioned earlier. Details of both are readily found on the internet.