We Are The Trampled: A study into Rough Sleeping on Cardiff City Centre Streets

we are the [tramp]led.

E lementa l i nterrog ation s i nt o the i m me d iat e p sycho - spatia l env i ron ment of the entrenche d rough sle ep er when bi nde d i nto the p eriphera l ma rg i n s of Ca rd i f f ’s chaotic h igh stre et s etti ng.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of MArch, 2019 Billy Gibson / 1335602 / Dissertation / Year 5 / Welsh School Of Architecture, Cardiff University [O I / 1]

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acknowledgments I would like to take the opportunity to make a special mention to the charity ‘Rainbow of hope’ and Elizabeth who kindly allowed me to perform my research within their facility. Elizabeth has been running the faith-based charity for over 27 years, helping anyone in need including the homeless, refugees and just lonely souls. During one of my interviews, the participant told me that him and many others would have been dead if it wasn’t for Elizabeth. I thought this is a fitting paper to dedicate to her, and to recognise all of the work her and others in Cardiff are doing to assist people in need, particularly over the Christmas period.

Rainbow for Hope always need help and is currently looking to expand the facility and provide additional spaces for residential use and to cater for more vulnerable people.

All imagery, with exception to the observation study, within this document was taken from an exhibition of photographic portraits that brings to light the reality of human life on the streets of Cardiff. Welsh photographer Andrew McNeill spent a year building relationships with homeless people in Cardiff - talking to them, eating with them, even spending some nights sleeping on the streets with them.

“On February 1st, 2014 I started ‘Under the Bridge’. It has just been officially closed by the Arts Council of Wales after showing at its final venue. Two people who took part in this project are no longer with us and it just reminds me of the impermanence of life and how things can change in an instant for all of us. I firmly believe photography can help shift the social imbalance and make change towards a world where we are all equal, where poverty, homelessness and addiction can be addressed and not ignored. I do hope that these images have helped high-light the socio-cultural dynamics of our urban population and the struggles they face without structured help.”

Andrew McNeill

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We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : A b str act

“Across Britain there are 236 ,000 people experiencing the worst forms of homelessness today including 9,100 people who are sleeping rough”.

Hayward, Will, The Things You Can Do and Shouldn’t Do to Help Homeless People (Wales Online, 2019) <https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/ things-you-can-shouldnt-help-15543630> [accessed 20.11.2019]

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We A re The Tr a mp[ le d ] : A bstr act

Homelessness in it’s most entrenched forms is a recurring issue in many of our city centres across the UK. This research paper will provide an insight into the personal experiences of the rough sleeping community on Cardiff ’s city centre streets, and the useful-ness of the city’s existing urban fabric upon the homeless communities there, through psychological, social, philosophical and physical means. This paper identifies the vital nature of a person understanding their whole perception of ‘self ’ through a series of component parts. The components: Memory, Loneliness, Interaction, Surveillance and Comfort, shall hope to construct an embodied understanding of a rough sleeper in the city. Through this extraction, the research explores each of these elemental interrogations through the medium of narrative, photography, and diagram, whereby participants will weave narratives on the everyday through a rough sleepers’s situation within the urban fabric of Cardiff ’s City Centre.

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We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Contents

con[tent]s

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We A re The Tr a mp [ le d ] : Contents

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Introduction Methodology

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Case Study: Location

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Personal Profiles

Thematic Discussion

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Memory / Object

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Loneliness / Addiction

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Interaction / Street

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Surveillance / Territory

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Comfort / Enclosure

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Observational Study

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Conclusion

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Bibliography

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Appendix: Profiling Transcript

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We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Intro duction

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01 01. Memory / Object 02. Loneliness / Addiction 03. Interaction / Street 04. Surveillance / Territory

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05. Comfort / Enclosure

introduction.

“To live in a city is to live in a community of people who are strangers to each other”. 1

This paper forms a study into the street-level inhabitation of entrenched rough sleeping within a city centre streetscape within the UK. There seems to be a disconnection between the increasingly privatised state of space surrounding building domains within cities that brings challenges in holding together a street culture that is able to perform surveillance within a socio-spatial environment, involving the coalescence of all communities within a city centre’s transient hallways that may now not be known as public domain. Homelessness can so often be evident within the fringes of the populated areas. The homeless community look at these decaying periphery spaces to construct new opportunities amidst this ephemeral existence, where there are now, however, increasing enforcements upon their existence

there. The homeless population seem to work as the buffer between transient corridors and the harsh conditions of high street infrastructure, manifesting a social landscape along the streetscape that may otherwise not exist. Ultimately, finding a potential solution for this final few may be discovered through a rigorous understanding of the processes of thought and action within this lifestyle of the individual. This paper aims to give a voice to the community that find themselves ‘trapped on the streets’. 2 “Understanding social identity, the impact of normative influences, and examining individuals’ perceptions, motivations, choices and actions are central to understanding homelessness”. 3 This paper hopes to identify, observe form an analytical framework for situations that concern a fluctuating rough sleeping population in Cardiff that continues to struggle to find its way into a housing

1 Raban, Jonathan, Soft City (London: London : Hamilton, 1974), p.7

2 R. Jackson, Trapped On The Streets (Swansea: Shelter Cymru, 2018) <http://www.sheltercymru.org/policy-and-research> [Accessed 21 April 2019] 3 Christian, Julie and Dominic Abrams, ‘The Effects of Social Identification, Norms and Attitudes on Use of Outreach Services by Homeless People’, Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 13.2 (2003), 138-57 08

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d ] : Intro duction

solution, be it of a temporary or of a more permanent residency. “The present situation is not fit for purpose and we clearly need to rejig the system, so we do not see people sleeping rough on the streets of Cardiff ”. 4 There is clearly a shift in focus for the council and supporting organisations in South Wales to implement a ‘Housing First’ approach, to begin to follow in Finland’s footsteps, by eradicating rough sleeping from our cities.

It needs to be understood, however, that “it’s not something you can click your fingers and do”. 5 A framework will be formed for which a variation of elements can be combined to construct a more wholesome understanding of the individual or ‘self ’, and their abilities to form and inhabit an environment where they feel comfortable or safe. “Central to the Feng Shui theory is the principle of the five elements”. 6 With an interpretation on these principles, a series of elements have been extracted from ‘diagram A’, where a spatial mapping identifies key elements of a rough sleeper’s entrenched environment when placed in a transient setting, i.e. a high street. It refers to extracting these “ ‘spatial practices’ to invoke the notion that psychological (mental) and psychological (material) dimensions are interwoven and conflated in the doing of our daily lives in urban settings”. 7 Each element shall outline a theoretical idea and reach into a more fundamental understanding of how each fragment manifests itself within the homeless individual, with the attempt to connect the nature of the ‘material’ within an understanding of the ‘mental’. It aims, potentially to offer a suggestion for a strategy

that begins to evolve the theories within identified literature towards a more relevant situational understanding of Cardiff city centre’s rough sleeping population, and its current relationship with the streetscape and the activities within. It shall bring into question the reasons for a reluctance to leave this lifestyle of transiency, or why some may move back to the streets after being resettled.

The working physiology of Cardiff ’s high street as an environment in facilitating or criminalising the actions of the homeless population of the city will become a key question within the paper. It shall ultimately attempt to form an architectural perspective from a philosophical theme, determining the success of this environment and its ability to contain “the experiences of people dislocated from family, community, and work, and their efforts to make a place for themselves”. 8 This paper hopes to bring an importance to recognising that public space, specifically with city centre’s within the UK, need to facilitate the needs of all who inhabit it regardless of their situation.

As Darren Hodgetts identifies, this paper aims to circumstantiate a set of principles by where “a person’s sense of self both leaks into and out from the places they inhabit and the things they use in everyday life”. 9 Understanding the physiology of these places and their connection to homeless individual shall be vital considering that “homeless bodies are often deemed to be out of place and, as a result, are denied legitimate identities as people who belong”. 10 Relevant sources from fields in Philosophy,

4 Davies, Wyre, ‘Cardiff’s Homeless Problem ‘Could Be Solved Now’’, (2019), <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48204745> [accessed 21.11.2019] 5 ibid

6 Walters, Derek, The Feng Shui Handbook : A Practical Guide to Chinese Geomancy (London: London : Aquarian, 1991), p.45

7 Hodgetts, Darrin J. and others, ‘The Mobile Hermit and the City: Considering Links between Places, Objects, and Identities in Social Psychological Research on Homelessness’, British Journal of Social Psychology, 49.2 (2010), 285-303, p.287

8 Groot, Shiloh and Darrin Hodgetts, ‘Homemaking on the Streets and Beyond’, Community, Work & Family, 15.3 (2012), 255-71, p.255 9 Hodgetts, Darrin J. and others, ‘The Mobile Hermit and the City: Considering Links between Places, Objects, and Identities in Social Psychological Research on Homelessness’, British Journal of Social Psychology, 49.2 (2010), 285-303, p.286 10 ibid

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We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Intro duction

Sociology and Phenomenology shall assist in a plethora of scholastic opinions through theories surrounding the regulation of public and private space, relating to notions of surveillance, control and survival. Aldo Rossi states that, “Collective psychology has bearing upon alI the sciences where the city as an object of study is of primary importance”. 11 Sources aim to bring focus back to the city streetscape, and themes of discussion related to psychospatial relationships that occur within this environment. Additionally, this paper wishes to interpret the differing approaches to safeguarding public space and how it’s inhabitants, specifically the vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, are perceived and treated within them through the implementation of these approaches.

Charities including Crisis, Shelter and the Wallich, specifically to South Wales, within the last 5 years, have released a series of reports outlining the reasons for the fluctuations in the homelessness populations, with a focus on the multifaceted approaches towards preventing and/or mitigating the more specific issues relating to rough sleeping and it’s concomitant street activities. This statistical data paired with governmental literature and regulatory documentation shall provide this study with a fixed quantifiable datum from which the theoretical discussion shall stem.

The ‘Cardiff rough sleeper strategy 20172020’ and similar documents shall provide the study with up-to-date legislative policy on the enforcement of rough sleeping in the city environment and its related ‘street culture activities’. This document highlights the options that are currently/shall be available as part of a new governmental

initiative to combat the growing numbers of homeless on the streets of the Welsh Capital. When combating street activities in particular, the report suggests that the “emphasis is placed on supporting people to divert them away from this activity prior to any enforcement action being taken”. 12 Similarly, charity Shelter have conducted a study titled ‘Trapped on the Streets’, identifying that something has “gone wrong” 13 in relation to the approach to tackling rough sleeping in Wales. It makes clear the requirement to consider all cases of rough sleeping as different, and to not generalise specific pathways into homelessness and rough sleeping. It identified that “the lure of the street-based lifestyle” 14 was one of the most prevalent causes for sufferers of homelessness returning to rough sleeping.

This paper ultimately asks the question:

‘Through identifying the relationships between both the mental and the physical environments of a rough sleeping culture on Cardiff ’s high street setting, can we, as designers produce a framework that assists in representing a wholesome situational understanding of people and place, in turn challenging our perceptions of this vulnerable community?’

11 Rossi, Aldo, The Architecture of the City. ed. by Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine, Arts and Studies Institute for Architecture and Urban (Cambridge, Mass. ; London: Cambridge, Mass. ; London : MIT, 1999)

12 Cardiff Rough Sleeper Strategy 2017-21 (Cardiff: cardiff.gov.uk, 2017) <https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/resident/Housing/Homelessor-at-risk/homeless-or-rough-sleeping/what-are-we-doing-to-help/Pages/default.aspx> [Accessed 21 April 2019]. p.30 13 R. Jackson, Trapped On The Streets (Swansea: Shelter Cymru, 2018) <http://www.sheltercymru.org/policy-and-research> [Accessed 21 April 2019], p. 1 14 ibid, p. 9 10

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d ] : Intro duction

The research within this paper gives voice to Cardiff ’s rough sleeping community. Through a 3-phased process, the research aims to profile, map and visualise the experiences of homeless individuals on Cardiff ’s City centre and it’s high streets. A selection of up to four individuals shall be interviewed and profiled to gain an understanding of current and past experience of living on the streets and its effect on the individual today. These discussions hope to reveal a more personalised experience of the living day of people engaged with the streets as a rough sleeper. A diagramming exercise shall attempt to visualise these given narratives within a series of images, attempting to physically diagrammatise the spatial relationships between the 5 given elements through the narratives given by the 4 participants of the interviews. This phase shall include the walking of a defined route along Queen Street, documenting evidence and/or traces of rough sleeping.

Other academic exploits into forming analysis around the homeless community revealed that it is the “daily drama of living life as a homeless person is further intensified through the long and tight activity pattern that homelessness included. This lifestyle was described by the participants as: ‘‘a full time job, more than that, because it is 24 hours a day’’. 15 This final phase hopes to take just a snapshot of a single street, for the period of less than 10 minutes. This hopes to highlight

in relation to the given themes relating to memory, loneliness, interaction, surveillance and comfort. This profile shall provide the paper with a database of information on interviewees, highlighting where particular themes were more prominent within the experiences of the individual whilst sleeping rough. The qualities within particular photographs hope to resonate with certain discussions around particular themes related to the interviews. These themes shall begin to evolve the representation of an architectural device that will endeavour to identify and analyse the resulting photographs, giving an intellectual perspective to these moments in time and the inhabitants reaction to Cardiff ’s urban physiology. It shall then begin to frame a question upon the success of Cardiff ’s Queen Street as an environment that welcomes the homeless community and allows them to make home in the city.

There is an understanding of the sensitivity of the potential outcomes where “it remains important to protect the anonymity of those concerned. Ethical issues in photographic work do not stop with a signature on a consent form”. 16 It shall be important to this study to document the individuals capacity to function within a social landscape, both through their ability to communicate during the interviews and discussions as part of this research paper, but also through the individuals of whom the images capture.

This shall hope to open up narratives in

the current state of emergency on Cardiff ’s street community, but also aims to provide the paper with a defined photographic narrative, drawing connection to the elemental, more philosophical discussions, with a very specific focus on the richness of information taken from such a small window of time along this 24 hour lifestyle..

relation to the nature of the environments the individual may choose to place themselves within and allow this research to go full circle in constructing a wholesome embodiment of the participants experience.

The initial phase of research shall begin to manifest a series of profiles of each individual

This research method shall loosely frame itself as a re-application of other similar research papers, including: “Visualising Homelessness: A study in Photography and Estrangement”, performed by a group of

15 Heuchemer, Birgit and Staffan Josephsson, ‘Leaving Homelessness and Addiction: Narratives of an Occupational Transition’, Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 13.3 (2006), 160-69, p.164 16 Radley, Alan and others, ‘Visualizing Homelessness: A Study in Photography and Estrangement’, Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 15.4 (2005), 273-95

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We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Ca s e Study

social scientists based in London, where “the aim was to explore the practices through which these individuals survived in the city.

By ‘survived’ we mean more than obtain basic needs for living, and more than establish a social identity”. 17 This paper constructs narratives through the photographic studies of the homeless individual within an urban setting. It recognises and interrogates the relationships between the ‘domiciled’ individual and the street. The resulting photographic study shall be followed up with discussions around the curation of each image. ”This is important, as whatever it is that we learn from this approach emerges somehow in the act of looking and telling.

Related to this is that picturing one’s life as a homeless person involves first making pictures to reflect one’s story, and then

describing and explaining the photographs for another person”. 18 This third phase of research shall provide some visual representation of the narratives previously identified within the fabric of Cardiff ’s high street setting . Plotting these detailed and more personalised case studies against a set of observational imagery shall hope to bring a new level of understanding to the current state of Cardiff ’s city streetscape and the homeless communities that inhabit it, where the research is “providing a pictorial dimension by means of which respondents can tell their story”. 19 The research is designed to “capture relational, situational, and spatial dimensions that we see as central to homelessness”. 20

17 Radley, Alan and others, ‘Visualizing Homelessness: A Study in Photography and Estrangement’, Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 15.4 (2005), 273-95

18 Radley, Alan and others, ‘From Means to Occasion: Walking in the Life of Homeless People’, Visual Studies, 25.1 (2010), 36-45, p.37 19 Radley, Alan and others, ‘From Means to Occasion: Walking in the Life of Homeless People’, Visual Studies, 25.1 (2010), 36-45, p.36

20 Groot, Shiloh and Darrin Hodgetts, ‘Homemaking on the Streets and Beyond’, Community, Work & Family, 15.3 (2012), 255-71, p.258

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Llamau / Llamau Housing Society

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The Wa llich Centre

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Norbur y House, Shelter Cymru

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Solas Cymru

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Tavs Centre

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Rainbow Of Hope

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Wallich: Sir Julian Hodge Centre

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Rainbow Of Hope Paradise Run

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Huggard Centre

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Tresillian House

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The Salvation Army

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YMCA Housing Association

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Salvation Army @ City Hall

Queen Street: Route

Cardiff ’s Central Zone 12

case study location.

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d ] : Cas e Study

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We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Per s ona l Prof i le s

personal prof iles.

Profile 01 Identifier: James

Age:

14

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Profile 02

Gender:

M

Identifier: Freddy

Age:

65

Gender:

M

Nationality: British / Welsh and Mixed Race

Nationality: British / Welsh

Hometown: Cardiff

Hometown: ‘The Valleys’

Memory: Mother and Father have money and property, put in prison, struggled with mental health issues and paranoid schizophrenia.

Memory: Marriage broke down, and he found himself on the streets, was earning £30k, now found showering at hostels then returning to the streets to live and sleep

Addiction: Recovered Heroin Addict and Alcoholic throughout time on the streets, struggled on and off with methadone prescription.

Addiction: Always experienced difficulties with alcohol abuse from a very young age. Admitted into a dry house where he was helped control his addiction.

Interaction: Identified that public space should allow more people to stop and interact, so the city can build more of a community, like homeless communities build up in the valleys

Interaction: Friendly community-based interaction, helping with taking addicts on trips to keep them stimulated. Volunteered throughout time on the streets, eventially gaining himself contacts in organsiations that found him accomodation

Observation: Poor relationship with police, trouble with crime and violence. Convinced that the government do not want to help him. recognises that hostels and other commercial buildings are well watched

Observation: Pickpockets and beggars give the homeless population of Cardiff a bad name, because of the city’s problem with drugs. The inner city is too cosmipolitan and the disparity between communities is at its greatest

Comfort: Has the comfort of his own parents home now but the cold was a key driver to him wanting to get off the streets. Hostels were chaotic and hostile environments for the vulnerable homeless individuals.

Comfort: Was lucky that he could control his habits and find comfort in flats Helped by various charities as a result of his hard work. Always felt more comfortable after taking a shower at the hostel.

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Per s ona l Prof i le s

Profile 03

Profile 04

Identifier: Keith

Identifier: David

Age:

Gender:

Age:

Gender:

28

M

50

M

Nationality: British / Welsh

Nationality: English

Hometown: Cardiff

Hometown: Bristol

Memory: Sister was raped by his uncle, been in jail and spat back out, no family willing to support him

Memory: Lost 10 people close to him, manipulative relationship led him away from home, lost mother and attempted suicide.

Addiction: Currently addicted to spice, uses it daily.

Has been identified as suffering from HIV as a result of complications with addiction to heroin and other injectable drugs.

Addiction: Had issues with drink to cope with loss of mother. Since the interview has been convicted on drink driving charges as is currently in jail.

Interaction: Nearly killed by a bin man as a result of falling asleep in a skip. Been stamped on repeatedly and sustained multiple injuries.

Interaction: No interaction apart from with his friend, and some of his family. Has become isolated in his own flat environemnt, so seeks interaction by going onto the streets to talk to other rough sleepers

Observation: Completely isolated from any help, sees the city centre as a violent place and is full of fear. His level of consiouscess severly affects his ability to be safe.

Observation: Has issues with trusting others and concerns about the judgments others make about homeless people and their ignorant actions towards them

Comfort: Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel comfortable in the city centre anymore as a result of his violent experiences there, so looks for help on the peripheries of the city

Comfort: Hardcore sleeper: no blanket/duvet or tent.

Had no shoes for a long time and found comfort after priest provided him with a duvet and blanket which felt like a huge relief for him.

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f irst element

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Fi r st Element : The Uns e en Element : Memor y : Obje ct

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We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Memor y : Obje ct

“You know, its wrong, and people are seeing you sitting there judging you, even though you look tidy, they say your scum, and they say what are you on the streets for? And you say, “what? Just because you got a home and you’re sitting there judging me?

You don’t know the background of it all do you? And they don’t. With most homeless people, it’s to do with the background, its what’s happened to them, and a lot of people don’t understand that”. 21

contact with events ‘out there’, in the world or, by contrast, they put us in cognitive contact with mental properties and mental particulars of some kind”. 23

Memory is the unseen element within this framework. In order to understand the rough sleepers experience, it may be best to begin by understanding the moments leading up to the present. Building a profile of one’s history begins to act as a framework for which embodiment manifests itself. Our memories stem from our cognitive being, we cannot see them, but we have experienced them. “If we let ourselves know what is happening within, life takes on a multi-faceted fascination, an incredible depth. We are, indeed, the creators of our own lives. But to do this, we must be willing to look inside and experience fully everything that we are and everything that we have been”. 22 Assessing the causalities of situation in regard to homelessness is vital to ensure a wholesome understanding of an individual’s circumstance. Gaining an insight into the perception of an individual’s memory of past events, be it with or without trauma, is key to unlocking a connection to their current experiences. Jordi Fernandez compares and contrasts a myriad of theories in perceiving memory and past events, and their connection to one’s physical or cognitive self; “Those memories that we report as being about perceived events put us in cognitive

[O I/5] There is the potentiality of an individual making “references to specific material objects, to offer proof of being, memory, belonging, and participation”. 24 Notions of memory as place can be considered as “people often develop ‘a sense of place’ where memories are associated with particular locations, providing a sense of connection, belonging, and history”. 25 This connection to object refers to an understanding

21 David, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 08.12.2019

22 Schutz, Will C., and Evelyn Turner, Body Fantasy, 1st edn (N.Y.: Irvington Publishers, 1985), p. 54

23 Fernández, Jordi, ‘Memory, Past and Self’, An International Journal for Epistemology, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, 160.1 (2008), 103-21, p. 108

24 Groot, Shiloh and Darrin Hodgetts, ‘Homemaking on the Streets and Beyond’, Community, Work & Family, 15.3 (2012), 255-71, p.263 25 Hodgetts, Darrin J. and others, ‘The Mobile Hermit and the City: Considering Links between Places, Objects, and Identities in Social Psychological Research on Homelessness’, British Journal of Social Psychology, 49.2 (2010), 285-303, p.286 18

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Memor y : Obje ct

that memories embed themselves within objects or belongings, forming some kind of sentimentality to the individual. With support to this and with reference to philosopher Robert Vischer, in ‘Body, Memory and Architecture’, notions of empathy are discussed in relation to a projection of self and emotion onto object, where there is “an almost mystic quality in empathy and spoke of a person forming an emotional union with an external object. Observing that feelings may be aroused by experiencing totally abstract objects, he surmised that we may empathize with objects by projecting our personal emotions into them” 26 Interviewees pursued a discussion based around a series of questions briefed prior to the interview. The participants are being named as: James, Freddy, Keith and David. All interviewees were at different positions along the timeline of experiencing homelessness.

This provided me with a variety of perspective upon the experiences faced on the streets, and perhaps the evolution of the support systems and their success. During the interviews, David talked repeatedly about his white coat, that essentially kept him alive through the time he was on the streets; “Everything I put into my home, I bent over backwards for. I was someone who didn’t have anything, just a white coat which is hanging up and the clothes on my back”. 27 “In Cardiff, it’s a city, and they’ll rob…”. 28 There is a clear consequence of experiences of stealing and exposure to the theft of object that hold memories. It seems to have resulted in heightened levels of dis-trust across social interactions with the domiciled individual and the stranger, as David states; “I couldn’t invite

you back to my place. As far as I know you could be one of these people that just wants to come around and take my stuff. You know what I mean”. 29 This connection between object becoming a possession may be the result of a manifestation of an ‘emotional union’.

In Theodor Lipps’ ‘Aesthetics of Space’, he characterizes empathy as the “positive enjoyment of self, for him positive empathy(beauty) is where the self is encountered in the object, and the negative empathy (ugliness) is where self is repelled”. 30 This correlation between ugliness as a repellent is particularly apparent when both Keith and David recalled traumatic, or ‘ugly’ memories of being trampled on.

“You know in the night I’ve been stamped on, broken jaw, eye socket, broken arm.

People stamped on me loads of times. I’ve been stamped on so many times, it horrible.

I don’t go town anymore”. 31

It highlights the exposure of rough sleepers to activity, and the consequence of this in deterring them from maintaining their position within in the city’s main streets. In referring to the retainment of these traumatic memories, and it’s consequence on a person’s experience, James stated that “self-pity gets you stuck in a f***ing rut”. 32 This ‘rut’ may refer to a physical experience of feeling helpless or isolated from any kind of help.

26 Bloomer, Kent C., Body, Memory and Architecture. ed. by Moore, Charles W. and Buzz Yudell (New Haven ; London: New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 1977), p. 27 27 David, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 08.12.2019

28 James, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019 29 David, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 08.12.2019

30 Bloomer, Kent C., Body, Memory and Architecture. ed. by Moore, Charles W. and Buzz Yudell (New Haven ; London: New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 1977), p. 27 31 Keith, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019

32 James, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019 19

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : L oneli ne s s : Add iction

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addiction.

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We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : L oneli ne s s : Add iction

“Loneliness underwrites the fragility of many homeless peoples’ lives and experiences of homemaking, limiting their sense of belonging”. 33

James had problems with addiction to both heroin and alcohol, and built connections between this, childhood trauma and isolation from a stable family. “like any child.. any kid, you need stability in your life, you know what I mean… and when your life’s so chaotic, you turn to drugs. You know and that’s the way it is, these people have been put through the care system, probably a lot of them have been abused, a lot of them have been on drugs”. 34 Suzanne Fitzpatrick identified five potential routes out of begging: “gaining access to accommodation; securing social security benefits; selling The Big Issue; gaining employment; and drugs and alcohol rehabilitation”. 35 She talks of a shift in street homelessness policy related to begging, which has now been made a recordable offence. Considering this, Fitzpatrick focuses much of her writing on the issues of homelessness in the UK, where “there has been a concern for some time about the need for a more sophisticated understanding of ‘deep social exclusion’”. 36 She interrogates pathways into multiple exclusion homelessness where the deprived individual will have experienced homelessness as well as experiencing domains related to ‘deep social exclusion’ including street culture activities.

With reference to these pathways, Fitzpatrick begins to conclude that “Homelessness, street lifestyles and adverse life events

typically occur later in these pathways, strongly implying that these experiences are more likely to be consequences than originating generative causes of deep exclusion”. 37 Groot and Hodgetts write on notions of loneliness in relation to homelessness and the “fuelling of a desire for connection”. 38 Where the words ‘connection’ and ‘bond’ may act on a similar plane, Johanni Hari talks on notions of addiction:

“Maybe we shouldn’t even call it addiction.

Maybe we should call it bonding. Human beings have a natural and innate need to bond, and when we’re happy and healthy, we’ll bond and connect with each other, but if you can’t do that, because you’re traumatised or isolated or beaten down by life, you will bond with something that will give you some sense of relief. Now, that might be gambling, that might be pornography, that might be cocaine, that might be cannabis, but you will bond and connect with something because that’s our nature. That’s what we want as human beings.” 39

This speaks about the causalities of addiction at a fundamental level of human development, acknowledging that moments of trauma or isolation can be responsible. As a definition of loneliness, it disconnects one from a social environment, and is a key to unlocking a real understanding of synthesis between how a person connects both inwardly and to outwardly things.

To put this in context with a bodily, spatial reaction to the physical consequence of addiction, it may be suggested that; “when

33 Groot, Shiloh and Darrin Hodgetts, ‘Homemaking on the Streets and Beyond’, Community, Work & Family, 15.3 (2012), 255-71, p.256 34 James, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019

35 C. Kennedy and S. Fitzpatrick, ‘Begging, Rough Sleeping and Social Exclusion: Implications for Social Policy’, Urban Studies, 38.11 (2001), 2001-16, p. 2009

36 S. Fitzpatrick and A. Jones, ‘Pursuing Social Justice or Social Cohesion?: Coercion in Street Homelessness Policies in England’, J. Soc. Pol., 34.3 (2005), 389-406, p. 389 37 ibid

38 Groot, Shiloh and Darrin Hodgetts, ‘Homemaking on the Streets and Beyond’, Community, Work & Family, 15.3 (2012), 255-71, p.256 39 Based on writing of Peter Cohen, in Hari, ‘Everything You Think You Know about Addiction Is Wrong’, [accessed 1 January 2019] 22

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : L onel ine s s : Add iction

we consciously stare at an object the body boundary hardens and there is a heightened sense of separation”. 40 We experience isolation more when in a static situation and remain in our bodily boundary.

[O I/ 7 ]

It is again good to be reminded that previous research had determined that “one of the most poignant findings of the research was that loneliness was a key factor driving many ex-rough sleepers to return to the streets”. 41 James speaks of this driver as the “vicious circle“. 42 In talking on the status of current rough sleepers and their hesitation to using hostel accommodation, Freddy says that “the only reason they resist is that if they can stay in the streets and beg or get the money, that’s the money they have then for their drugs, because they know they can’t get away with it in there (points to the Huggard)”. 43 It may seem, however that the more physically isolated spaces, to the periphery of the centre of Cardiff, are the places where interaction is most apparent, not only within the homeless community, but also with strangers. Freddy talks of the peripheral urban spaces as places in providing a better quality of life in reference to levels of interaction experienced: “This is like Clifton Street and Albany Road and City road, you would get a better quality of life than you ever would in the city centre, there’s nothing in the city centre, nothing, you can walk right through there and no one says hello to anyone“. 44

40 Bloomer, Kent C., Body, Memory and Architecture. ed. by Moore, Charles W. and Buzz Yudell (New Haven ; London: New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 1977), p. 43

41 C. Kennedy and S. Fitzpatrick, ‘Begging, Rough Sleeping and Social Exclusion: Implications for Social Policy’, Urban Studies, 38.11 (2001), 2001-16, p. 2015 42 James, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019

43 Freddy, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019 44 ibid

23

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Inter action : Stre et

third element

interact

[O I/8] 24

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Inter action : Stre et

street.

ion.

[O D/4] 25

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Inter action : Stre et

“As an individual develops his personal, internal world, he also develops a curiosity about the existence and nature of another’s world”.45 This transition from isolation into a consciousness of knowing others, or being curious of others, is how communities form.

“A city is more than the sum of it’s inhabitants.

It has the power to generate a surplus of amenity, which is one reason why people like to live in communities rather than in isolation”. 46 Freddy spoke with some nostalgia about the experiences of sleeping against the interactions he would have on Cardiff ’s urban setting, where ”you sleep in car parks and whatever, but you meet some nice people on the streets”. 47 With focus on a more theoretical discussion considering the public spaces within US cities, Jane Jacobs discusses the use of the “sidewalk” 48 as part of “an attack on city planning and rebuilding”. 49 She outlines the qualities that cities’ neighbourhoods should display in order to be successful.

This includes the need for a clear distinction of what is considered public and private, and that “public and private spaces cannot ooze into each other as they do typically in suburban settings or in projects”. 50 These differences between of city life are made more apparent when observing street level interactions. Freddy spoke about Cardiff ’s sense of place with reference to ‘community’,

saying “it’s such a cosmopolitan place as well, everyone is looking after themselves rather than helping others as a community.

You know when I was in the village, everybody knew everybody”. 51 In recognising the differences in each case of rough sleeping, Fitzpatrick began to perceive that “particular programmes of interventions may contain elements of more than one of the modes of social control”, highlighting the need for “a durable tool that can provide a consistent starting point for deconstructing and making sense of these subtleties”. 52 She laid out a social control typology that laid out five ‘modes of power’. These modes identify a criteria where “homeless people are brought to bear on the practical and moral conundrums associated with the use of ‘force’, ‘coercion’, ‘bargaining’, ‘influence’ and ‘tolerance’ in this field”. 53 Suzanne Fitzpatrick and Sarah Johnsen are leading researchers in fields relating to homelessness and the approaches towards combatting it’s related “’street culture activities’, such as begging and street drinking“, 54 identifying these activities as a de- grading and humiliating” 55 activity. Rather than thinking about this as a framework for the stranger to interact with the homeless, it may be better to understand these ‘modes of power’ as being apparent within the interaction of the rough sleeping community. These forms of interaction, alongside the street culture activities, are used to ensure that individuals within the community know their position within the hierarchy of the community.

45 Bloomer, Kent C., Body, Memory and Architecture. ed. by Moore, Charles W. and Buzz Yudell (New Haven ; London: New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 1977), p. 45 46 Cullen, Gordon, The Concise Townscape. ed. by Taylor and others, London : Architectural Press, 1996), p.7 47 Freddy, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019

48 J, Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Harmondsworth: Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1972), p.46 49 ibid, p.1

50 ibid, p.46

51 Freddy, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019

52 S, Johnsen and others, ‘Homelessness and Social Control: A Typology’, Housing Studies, 33.7 (2018), 1106-26, p. 1120 53 ibid

54 S, Fitzpatrick and S, Johnsen (2009) The Use of Enforcement to Combat ‘Street Culture’ in England: An Ethical Approach? ETHICS AND SOCIAL WELFARE, 3:3, 284-302, p. 284 55 C, Kennedy and S, Fitzpatrick, ‘Begging, Rough Sleeping and Social Exclusion: Implications for Social Policy’, Urban Studies, 38.11 (2001), 2001-16, p. 2008 26

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Inter action : Stre et

flourish for all.

James spoke about isolation and illness, and it’s connection to physically debilitating someone enough that they lose the ability to interact, where “some people are so ill, psychologically ill, vulnerable people on the streets, they’ve got no voice, you know what I mean, and when your that weak and you’ve got no voice, you’ve got no one to speak up for you so when you’re stuck on the streets, your homeless, your cold, when your weak and you’ve got no voice anyway, you’ve got no one.” 56 On the other hand, “It is crucial to acknowledge that not all homeless people seek interactions with others”. 57 When asked what is now important to him following his experiences of homelessness and what he is determined to be, David said “My home, and everything what I got around me, it’s only my mate and me, I don’t interact with no else but my mate, I don’t see anyone else, Its just mainly me and him”. 58 In ‘Life between buildings’, 59 Jan Gehl refers to notions of privatisation and the depopulating of public space, “where the result will almost always be a dispersal of people and an effective closing in of people and activities, emptying the public spaces of human beings and interesting attractions.

The city thus becomes depopulated, duller, and more dangerous, when instead, the same functions, now closed in, could have enhanced many public spaces and the city as a whole”. 60 His well-respected literature sets out a framework for which public life can exist and provides bodies of government and design a set of rules whereby public life can

This study refers to the work of Jane Jacobs, and her reference to safety of the streetscape within the city; “A well-used city is apt to be a safe street. A deserted city street is apt to be unsafe “. 61 Jacobs writes on the importance for the quality of street life, and the effect of this quality on the safety of the resulting space. “The safety of the street works best, most casually. and with least frequent taint of hostility or suspicion precisely where people are using and most enjoying the city streets voluntarily and are least conscious, normally, that they are policing”. 62 Similarly, Richard Sennett writes on the decline in value of public space and the impact of capitalism and privatisation on public life, describing the city as, “a milieu where strangers are likely to meet”. 63 The sidewalk provides an opportunity for enterprise, particularly for this vulnerable community, as much as the high street’s core commercial infrastructure. This begins to correlate with notions of ‘enterprise’ discussed by Jane Jacobs where sidewalks, as a transient mechanism of public space, may become more successful where “there should be many different kinds of enterprises, to give people reasons for criss-crossing paths”. 64 She talks about “storekeepers and other small businessmen” 65 and their connection to the streetscape, identifying them as being “great street watchers and side­ walk guardians if present in sufficient numbers”. 66

56 James, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019

57 Hodgetts, Darrin J. and others, ‘The Mobile Hermit and the City: Considering Links between Places, Objects, and Identities in Social Psychological Research on Homelessness’, British Journal of Social Psychology, 49.2 (2010), 285-303, p.286 58 David, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 08.12.2019

59 J, Gehl, Life between Buildings : Using Public Space, 6th ed. edn. (Copenhagen: Copenhagen : Danish Architectural Press, 2006) 60 ibid, p.125

61 J, Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Harmondsworth: Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1972), p. 44 62 ibid, p. 46

63 R, Sennett, The Fall of Public Man (London: London : Faber, 1993), p.48

64 J, Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Harmondsworth: Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1972), p.46 65 ibid 66 ibid 27

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Su r vei l la nc e : Terr itor y

fourth element

surveilla [O I/9] 28

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Su rvei l la nce : Terr itor y

territory.

nce.

[O D/5] 29

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Su r vei l la nc e : Terr itor y

The perception of the rough sleeper is something that needs to be re-constructed.

The dynamics of a public space, in terms of its security and safety, is defined as much by the people within the space as the built fabric and the security infrastructure within it. This section reads into the perceptions from both ‘vagrant’ and ‘viewer’, and the ways in which a city’s urban landscape re-enforces the notion that the homeless community are perceived as functioning on a different stratum of humanity. In reference to the perception of the ‘tramp’ in Victorian era, “pity for urban tramps depended on recognition of common humanity between vagrant and viewer”. 67 This perception and consequential treatment of human life is ever present on Cardiff ’s streets.

David recalls the kind of experience where:

culture activities, DeVerteuil seeks to “propose an alternative framework—poverty management—to understand homeless regulation in a more managerial and ambivalent way”. 72 He looks to move away from scenarios where “homeless spaces are being squeezed and collapsed”, 73 with no right to be in the city. DeVerteuil states “the ‘criminalization’ of homelessness and ‘eradication’ of homeless people from public space has been most documented extensively in the United States, where it has often been attributed to the vengeful actions of ‘revanchist’ city administrations”. 74

[O I/10]

“you think, ah its raining… its not its other people p***ing on you”. 68 David spoke of the requirement to be alert whilst on the streets; “Ill tell you something, when you’re out on the streets, you’re constantly on alert, there is people out there that will stamp all over you, there’s people that will challenge you, there’s people that want to beat you up, that look at you like scum, and that’s no joke.” 69 This further exemplifies the poor treatment of the homeless community on Cardiff ’s streets. Geoffrey DeVerteuil writes on the “increasingly antagonistic responses to the visibly homeless in public space” 70, specifically in American cities through the ordinances designed to “cleanse public spaces by controlling, containing and criminalizing homeless mobility and activities”. 71 With a critical eye on the revanchist approach to combating street 67 Strange, Julie-Marie, ‘Tramp: Sentiment and the Homeless Man in the Late-Victorian and Edwardian City’, Journal of Victorian Culture, 16.2 (2011), 242-58, p. 244 68 David, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 08.12.2019 69 ibid

70 G, DeVerteuil, ‘The Local State and Homeless Shelters: Beyond Revanchism?’, Cities, 23.2 (2006), 109-20, p.110 71 ibid

72 ibid, p. 111 73 ibid 74 ibid 30

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Su rvei l la nce : Terr itor y

In order to find a more supportive view on these ‘revanchist’ approaches, Oscar Newman defines natural surveillance as: “the capacity of physical design to provide surveillance opportunities for residents and their agents”, 75 where the decision to act, however, will also depend on the conditions related to the observer feeling impelled to respond with assistance. It precludes intervention where “the victim was unknown to the observers, and that the incident occurred on a public street”. 76 Newman talks on areas that can be defined as the owners “sphere of influence”, 77 suggesting that the extent and distinctiveness of territoriality between private and public space can be closely linked to the success or failure of some kind of natural surveillance. Newman talks on notions of territorialism, where he suggests one should be:

“advocating territorial def inition and the creation of surveillance opportunities to allow the citizen of the open society to achieve control of his environment for the activities he wishes to pursue within it”.78

Understanding the functioning of public space, and the approach to encompassing of all communities found within it shall be central to this study. Anna Minton seems to take a stance against the Newman viewpoint

viewpoint, suggesting that “we are making the city a more fearful place, handing over our collective and personal responsibility for our safety to private companies which run many of the places we live in”. 81 She talks of us being left in a position of having “police officers, rather than architects, responsible for the way places look and feel”. 82 James spoke about the tightly monitored forms of surveillance, stating that “the government just don’t care, you know they can easily build a massive building, get it monitored like they’ve got here (points at Huggard hostel across the road), get it monitored by four security guards, and at least they’re keeping drugs in control instead of having little kids pick up little needles”. 83 Surveillance is clearly a huge issue in controlling the street culture activities that have found their way into the infrastructure of hostel systems. David spoke about the interactions with surveillance personnel; “I used to sleep by the crown court near the central police station. The guards used to come out in the morning and move the other two, not me. He said you take your time”. 84 It may seem that the security officer is making decisions on who may be put in more vulnerable situations, where they want to remove responsibility for their safety away from themselves.

of securing public space where we are consequently, “controlling the environment rather than improving social conditions”, 79 and how “strangers should be viewed as dangerous intruders”. 80 Referring to the notion of privatisation, Minton takes a critical 75 O, Newman, Defensible Space : People and Design in the Violent City (London: London : Architectural Press, 1973), p. 79 76 ibid 77 ibid

78 O, Newman, Defensible Space : People and Design in the Violent City (London: London : Architectural Press, 1973), p. 204 79 A, Minton, Ground Control : Fear and Happiness in the Twenty-First-Century City (London: London : Penguin, 2009), p.71 80 ibid, p. 73

81 ibid, p.179 82 ibid, p. 73

83 James, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019 84 David, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 08.12.2019

31

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Com for t : E nclo su re

comfo f ifth element

[O I/11] 32

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Comfor t : E nclosure

enclosure.

rt.

[O D/6] 33

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Com for t : E nclo su re

Aristotle theorised that place is defined by “the boundary of that which encloses it”. 85 A sense of enclosure provides the boundary that manifests an individual within a place. Haim Yacobi says that, “since the construction of place and of a sense of place is an endless process, different aspects of the sense of place of a particular group of people to a particular locality are re-adjusted and re-shaped constantly according to the balance of power in that locality”. 86 It discusses notions of nomadism within the realm of homelessness. It may be difficult to maintain static within one space, so the ability to have not only a fixed sense of enclosure, but a series of mobile devices for enclosure is necessary. These acts of homemaking are vital in order to provide the domiciled individual with a sense of comfort when moving from place to place, where the individual “invokes a process of learning how to occupy a space and make it homely”. 87

“In considering issues of safety and security in relation to homemaking in the context of homelessness, we should also not forget the importance of location. Often homeless dwelling occurs in spaces ‘in-between’ prime public locations, such as alleys, sidewalks, parks, doorways, and bridges, which are transited by domiciled people, but dwelled in by homeless people. Despite being essential to survival these spaces may also be perceived as dangerous spaces”. 88

surveillance upon them. David spoke of a feeling of injustice towards him relating to the helpfulness of others. “When I walk round town and saw everyone with quilts blanket, tents, you name it, I didn’t. No one offered, no one offered to help me, even thought of helping you know”. 89 Keith recalls memories of recent sleeping locations: “I’ve been sleeping in skips. You can’t just sleep in skips all day when you’ve got no money. You’ve got to get out and get money for food. I was in a skip one day and went into the wagon and nearly got killed, he tipped me into the wagon and nearly killed me. It started crushing it”. 90 This reveals the desperation for enclosure, and the dangers that may arise as a consequence.

David recalled a time when a lady decided to approach him and try to help. “She got me a coffee from MacDonald’s and that and asked me why I didn’t have a blanket, and I’d didn’t know why because everyone else has a tent and that, all I’ve got is my coat. ‘You must be frozen’ she said, and I said ’I am literally frozed.’ I was shivering and everything mate, I thought I was going to die, serious, on the streets because don’t forget I didn’t have any shoes or nothing, only the clothes what I had, and my coat”. 91 David vividly recalled the physical struggles of street life:

Enclosure is the key spatial device that draws these individuals into occupying this space, regardless of the level of safety and natural

“I’m freezing, I’m aching, my backs in half, because when you’re on the streets you’ve got to curl up in a ball to keep yourself warm, and sometime I put the hood over and breath into the coat so you’ve got the heat from your breath”. 92

85 Bloomer, Kent C., Body, Memory and Architecture. ed. by Moore, Charles W. and Buzz Yudell (New Haven ; London: New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 1977), p. 27

86 Yacobi, Haim, Constructing a Sense of Place : Architecture and the Zionist Discourse, Series: Architecture and the Zionist Discourse (Aldershot: Aldershot : Ashgate, 2004), p. 119

87 Groot, Shiloh and Darrin Hodgetts, ‘Homemaking on the Streets and Beyond’, Community, Work & Family, 15.3 (2012), 255-71, p.263 88 ibid, p.265

89 David, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 08.12.2019 90 Keith, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019

91 David, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 08.12.2019 92 ibid 34

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Comfor t : E nclosure

[O I/12]

The correlation between comfort and enclosure are clearly evident when understanding how vital just a coat can be in these conditions. David then spoke of the joyful moment when he was finally experienced some level of comfort, “I was still on the streets. I didn’t want to get out of the quilt and blanket, I was so warm. The wind was blowing, and the rain was hitting the steps and I thought yes! I can’t feel cold”. 93 The tent as a device for enclosure works perfectly, however within the context of the high street, this study seems to suggest that it’s use does not consider a series of other psychophysical elements discussed within this paper. The element of comfort encompasses elements of enclosure within the individuals immediate environment.

Jane Jacobs refers to the orientation of infrastructure onto public space, where:

“the buildings on a street equipped to handle strangers and to ensure the safety of both residents and strangers, must be oriented to the street.”. 94

These devices, be it static or mobile, provide the individual with a sense of comfort and the ability to make home in such a turbulent setting. Some forms of this enclosure, however, may begin to affect the level of awareness for another’s environment. So it’s seems that the more comprehensive the enclosure, however the orientation of this enclosure seems crucial in maintaining an ability to survey space and maintain the individuals level of safety at all times.

93 David, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 08.12.2019

94 J, Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Harmondsworth: Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1972), p.45 35

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photog r aphic Study

case study / route. observation study

36

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photogr aphic Study

Q

01

U

02

E

03 04 06 05 07 08

E 09

N

10

11

12

S T

13 14

R 15

E

16

E 17

T

c a stle.

37

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photog r aphic Study

[O P/1]

[O D/ 7 ]

Image 001 Man is hunched over, rolling a cigarette. Located about 10m of the main high street, with an alcove situated to his left hand side. Man has a trolley full of belongings and is sat on a duvet.

Possibly in a moment of rest. The way he is sat against his â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;luggageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; suggests that he wants to protect what belongs to him.

38

[O P/2]

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photogr aphic Study

[O D/8]

Image 002 An individual has used a supermarket storage cage as a makeshift shelter, located outside the Tesco store at the capitol shopping centre. This is a very sophisticated example of the ability to make home on the high street, with lockable doors providing the individual with a means of security.

39

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photog r aphic Study

[O D/9]

Image 003 A woman is seen walking across to the benched area to interact with two males, one of which seems to be a rough sleeper. The woman is enclosed within a duvet and coat, beginning to gesture towards the benches. The existence of the duvet and the way in which it is being worn, reinforces the disparate relationship between people and place within this community.

40

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photogr aphic Study

[O D/10]

Image 004 Interaction between two men drinking alcohol on the open bench area, with another man cycling away. Clear evidence of addiction is apparent. Belongings are strewn on the floor to the left of the image. This image begins to build an interesting interdependencies between addiction and interaction. Damaging interactions are forged with respect to addictive behaviours, leading to levels of surveillance and an awareness for safety becoming less important in the individuals environment.

41

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photog r aphic Study

[O D/11]

Image 005 A woman sits up against the wall of the bank looking onto the transient corridor, and one of the most open spaces along Queen Street. She is aware of the movements of others,, being thrust into the transiency of the high street corridor, with limited shelter from enclosure.

42

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photogr aphic Study

[O D/12]

Image 006 Woman sits with blankets in a doorway alcove, enclosed from vertical elements. Two men attempt to interact with her, but seem to walk away. Alcoves assist the individual in maintaining protection from multiple elevations. The womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face was all bloodied and bruised, suggesting some physical altercations had taken place, whether it be due to being out of control through addiction or through interactions with others.

43

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photog r aphic Study

[O D/13]

Image 007 A tent sits adjacent to an alcove of a derelict ground floor unit, that is shown as being for let. The closure of these units and the resulting decline in the high street seems to attract the presence of rough sleeping. As the visual impact upon the open units is reduced, a tolerance is somehow more heightened.

44

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photogr aphic Study

[O D/14]

Image 008 A man sits in the rear door porchway adjacent to a bakery, attempting to interact with passers by, and customers exiting the café, hoping to receive some ‘spare change’. Some individuals will attempt to tether themselves to establishments of enterprise in order to form their own enterprise. This occurs through a positive correlation between interaction and surveillance.

45

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photog r aphic Study

[O D/15]

Image 009 Abandoned blankets, bags and coffee cups lie in the doorway of an abandoned shop unit. The treatment of the high street frontage is replicated in the inhabitation of the individuals within itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence. This image is presenting a set of tools for enclosure, that are stripped away from the user, who is now isolated from gaining that sense of comfort.

46

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photogr aphic Study

[O D/16]

Image 010 Man with hooded coat sits against the wall upright with a blanket over his legs. The individual is aware and conscious, surveying the area for potential interaction. As he is not sat within an alcove or doorway, he is pushed closer against the transient corridor, particularly in the most pinched point of Queen Street. This may increase the individuals chances for interaction.

47

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photog r aphic Study

[O D/17 ]

Image 011 A young man is sat on his knees in a sleeping bag, with belongings to his right. He is sat in front of a fire exit door stating ‘keep area clear at all times’. This begins to highlights some individual’s disregard for obeying law, re-enforcing the preconception that the rough sleeping community are predominately ‘criminal’.

48

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photogr aphic Study

[O D/18]

Image 012 A tent is situated within a window of the bank, with belongings strewn across the balustrade within the opening behind. This tent is situated at the pinch point of Queen Street, therefore itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s protrusion into the high street corridor becomes obstructive. This again highlights a disregard for the everyday use of the street, however suggests that there is a plea to be noticed.

49

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photog r aphic Study

[O D/19]

Image 013 Beneath the large canopy outside a pharmaceutical store, a noticeably regular gathering space for rough sleepers, sits a woman against the column. With a woolly hat, sleeping bag and blankets, sitting under shelter, she looks fairly content but vulnerable. Her open body position suggests she is being observant and is looking to interact, as a man does in the following image.

50

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photogr aphic Study

[O D/20]

Image 014 A man approaches the woman sat outside the pharmaceutical store. A brief encounter involves the man towering over the woman, bending over into her personal space. These uncomfortable interactions highlight a tension within the rough sleeping community, where levels of trust are extremely fluctuative.

51

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photog r aphic Study

[O D/21]

Image 015 A collection of tents and awnings are strapped together and against the wall, presumably for security reasons. This collaboration of shelters clearly involves high level of interaction, and provides an exemplar to others, that safety is in numbers. The more this community can interact to produce higher levels of comfort, the level of surveillance opportunities are increased, providing the individuals with a safer physical environment.

52

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photogr aphic Study

[O D/22]

Image 016 A single tent cowers behind an external floor sign. The tent tucks itself into a set back in the high street faรงade. Providing less of an obstruction to passers by. In terms of providing enclosure, of course the tent provides an additional skin that the blanket and coat cannot. It does, however, isolate the individual from being conscious of the environment they are placed within, which is vital in this setting.

53

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photog r aphic Study

[O D/23]

Image 017 A tent sits beneath a sheltered canopy, on the very edge of Queen Street facing the castle. The tent obstructs a series of posters against the faรงade, but tucks itself away from the high footfall traffic turning the corner. These corners provide the most opportunity for interaction as people will pause to navigate and change direction.

54

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Photogr aphic Study

Image 018 Image taken on St Mary Street following the walk.

The image shows 3 homeless individuals, including a man with a sleeping bag wrapped around his neck, and a man pushing an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair.

55

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Conclusion

01. Memory / Object 02. Loneliness / Addiction 03. Interaction / Street 04. Surveillance / Territory 05. Comfort / Enclosure

conclusion.

As James says:

“Everyone has got their own struggles, but instead of worrying about that, it’s about basically, getting to know, helping, you know dealing with situations”. 95

He spoke about treating the problem in a more confrontational manner, by the way “we deal with situations, you know to stop the homelessness” 96 This diagram series begins to visually represent the framework discussed in this paper, through the isolation of the person, and the representation of the bodily situation within space. This study removes the environment and attempts to read the body as an informative being, encompassing the five elements into an analytic study of the body’s occupation of a location in space. The diagram produced may begin to suggest the workings towards an equilibrium of elements, where alignment of elements begins to reveal a positive change in the behaviour of the individual, whilst constructing a

series of co-ordinates for analysis. In understanding this at a bodily scale, Body, Memory and Architecture theorises a series of “psychophysical co-ordinates of the body”. 97 Additionally, by understanding these ideas in terms of providing a sense of place, E.Relph describes how “place is basically understood as location definable by sets of co-ordinates”. 98 The elements identified from the interview phase have allowed the paper to follow a narrative through understanding homelessness at what began it’s focus within a mental capacity, to what became a diagrammatic exercise in understanding people, space and environment. It seems key to this paper, that working through this narrative, and through each element, allows the viewer to perceive the experience of rough sleeping with much more conscious thought. All five elements have proven to contain interdependencies and conflict when they have been brought together, which may then begin to highlight where the issues can

95 James, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019 96 ibid

97 Bloomer, Kent C., Body, Memory and Architecture. ed. by Moore, Charles W. and Buzz Yudell (New Haven ; London: New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 1977), p. 40 98 Relph, E. C., Place and Placelessness (London: London : Pion, 1976) 56

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d ] : Conclusion

05 03

04 02

01

[O I/13]

[O I/14]

[O I/15]

[O I/16]

[O I/17 ]

[O I/18] 57

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d] : Conclusion

be found in the individuals capacity to find a stable home.

Memory is something that can be expressed both internally and externally in order to best visualise the belonging of the person, therefore identifying how that memory is expressed is important to comprehend.

This element is the key to unlocking an understanding of the possessive natures of a person, identifying what objects hold more sentimentality.

The element of loneliness refers to a person’s bodily control and possessing an awareness of themselves. It brings in ideas of isolation, and the focus on ensuring that the individual is conscious of the moments when they are isolating themselves. As addiction is such a prevalent issue on Cardiff ’s streets, it has been important to understand how addictive use leads to a loss of a bodily consciousness.

The element of interaction is referring to the awareness of the ‘other’ spaces. Interaction is a sensory familiarity with the environment and with a social landscape that is outward of the margins of isolation, into a wider perspective of how one’s self can influence another’s. The wider the disparity between isolation and interaction, the more conscious the person is to the environment around them.

Safety and Surveillance is vital in ensuring the maintenance of the previous elements and the building of trust between the individual and their environment. This element dictates a harmonious relationship between communities, reducing opportunities for traumatic memories to manifest, providing more opportunity for interaction.

Finally, considering enclosure and it’s connection with notions of safety and orientation has revealed both successes and failures in forms of enclosure on Cardiff ’s high street. This paper has proved how vital

the form of enclosure is to comfort. The more static, permanent forms of enclosure in the forms of alcoves and doorways seem to act as more spaces that allow for an orientation of the body that is much safer. When combined with a smaller more mobile form of enclosure, such as sleeping bags and duvets, the individual is provided the opportunity to be more conscious of the turbulent environment of the high street.

This research paper has presented a rigorous framework of 5 elements that attempts to assist in shifting the perceptions of the rough sleeping community who find themselves occupying space on the UKs high streets. This research is set out with the view that it may be applied and multiplied to form a more comprehensive study. The diagram series provides some example of how the snapshots analysed within this paper may be interpreted as a series of spatial representations producing a set of ‘psychophysical co-ordinates’ where intersections between elements are evident.

These captured moments may be over-layed, identifying further intersections. These intersections now study the changes in state over time. The process of distillation through this diagramming exercise hopes to provide the viewer with a set of data that stems from an understanding of a multitude of elements that contribute towards the situations these individuals find themselves in. The resultant data stems from a rich understanding of the individual and does not simply identify them as a number or percentage on a “quarterly record”. 99 I hope that this research has allowed for an insight into the experiences of the rough sleeping community on Cardiff ’s streets, whilst providing a framework for altering perception, re-inforcing observation and formulating an analysis, working towards finding a way to eradicate rough sleeping from the UK’s city streets.

99 Cardiff Rough Sleeper Strategy 2017-21 (Cardiff: cardiff.gov.uk, 2017) <https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/resident/Housing/Homeless58

We A re The Tr a mp[ le d ] : Conclusion

03 05 04 01 02

01. Memory / Object 02. Loneliness / Addiction 03. Interaction / Street 04. Surveillance / Territory 05. Comfort / Enclosure

[O D/24] 59

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Trauma, 5.1 (2013), 26-34 Deverteuil, Geoffrey, ‘The Local State and Homeless Shelters: Beyond Revanchism?’, Cities, 23.2 (2006), 109-20 Doherty, J. and others, ‘Homelessness and Exclusion: Regulating Public Space in European Cities’, Surveillance and Society, 5.3 (2008), 290-314 Fast, Danya and David Cunningham, ‘“We Don’t Belong There”: New Geographies of Homelessness, Addiction, and Social Control in Vancouver’s Inner City’, City & Society, 30.2 (2018), 237-62 Fernández, Jordi, ‘Memory, Past and Self ’, An International Journal for Epistemology, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, 160.1 (2008), 103-21 Fitzpatrick, Suzanne, Getting By : Begging, Rough Sleeping and the Big Issue in Glasgow and Edinburgh. ed. by Kennedy, Catherine (Bristol: Bristol : The Policy Press, 2000) Fitzpatrick, Suzanne and others, ‘Pathways into Multiple Exclusion Homelessness in Seven Uk Cities’, Urban Studies, 50.1 (2013), 148-68 Fitzpatrick, Suzanne and Anwen Jones, ‘Pursuing Social Justice or Social Cohesion?: Coercion in Street Homelessness Policies in England’, J. Soc. Pol., 34.3 (2005), 389-406 Fitzpatrick, Suzanne and others, Homelessness in the Uk : Problems and Solutions (Coventry: Coventry : Chartered Institute of Housing, 2009) Freddy, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019 Gehl, Jan, Life between Buildings : Using Public Space, 6th ed. edn (Copenhagen: Copenhagen : Danish Architectural Press, 2006) Gerrard, Jessica and David Farrugia, ‘The ‘Lamentable Sight’ of Homelessness and the Society of the Spectacle’, Urban Studies, 52.12 (2015), 2219-33 Groot, Shiloh and Darrin Hodgetts, ‘Homemaking on the Streets and Beyond’, Community, Work & Family, 60

15.3 (2012), 255-71 Hayward, Will, The Things You Can Do and Shouldn’t Do to Help Homeless People (Wales Online, 2019) <https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/things-you-can-shouldnt-help-15543630> [accessed 20.11.2019] Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, Phenomenology of Spirit. ed. by Miller, Arnold V. and J. N. Findlay, Series: Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit (Oxford: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1977) Heuchemer, Birgit and Staffan Josephsson, ‘Leaving Homelessness and Addiction: Narratives of an Occupational Transition’, Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 13.3 (2006), 160-69 Hill, Ronald Paul and Mark Stamey, ‘The Homeless in America: An Examination of Possessions and Consumption Behaviors’, Journal of Consumer Research, 17.3 (1990), 303-21 Hodgetts, Darrin J. and others, ‘The Mobile Hermit and the City: Considering Links between Places, Objects, and Identities in Social Psychological Research on Homelessness’, British Journal of Social Psychology, 49.2 (2010), 285-303 Jacobs, Jane, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Harmondsworth: Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1972) James, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019 Johnsen, Sarah and others, ‘Homelessness and Social Control: A Typology’, Housing Studies, 33.7 (2018), 1106-26 Keith, We Are the Trampled, interviewed by Gibson, Billy, 23.11.2019 Kennedy, Catherine and Suzanne Fitzpatrick, ‘Begging, Rough Sleeping and Social Exclusion: Implications for Social Policy’, Urban Studies, 38.11 (2001), 2001-16 Lynch, Kevin, The Image of the City (Cambridge, Mass. ; London: Cambridge, Mass. ; London : M.I.T. Press, 1960) Mcneill, Andrew, Under the Bridge (2019) http://www.andrewmcneillphotography.com/#/under-thebridge-1/ Minton, Anna, Ground Control : Fear and Happiness in the Twenty-First-Century City (London: London : Penguin, 2009) Moya, Patricia, ‘Habit and Embodiment in Merleau-Ponty’, Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8.JULY (2014), 542 Newman, Oscar, Defensible Space : People and Design in the Violent City (London: London : Architectural Press, 1973) Nóka, M., ‘Rethinking Homelessness. Residence and the Sense of Home in the Experience of Homeless People’, Housing, Theory and Society (2019), <xocs:firstpage xmlns:xocs=””/> producer, Raban, Jonathan, Soft City (London: London : Hamilton, 1974) Radley, Alan and others, ‘From Means to Occasion: Walking in the Life of Homeless People’, Visual Studies, 25.1 (2010), 36-45 Radley, Alan and others, ‘Visualizing Homelessness: A Study in Photography and Estrangement’, Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 15.4 (2005), 273-95 Relph, E. C., Place and Placelessness (London: London : Pion, 1976) Rossi, Aldo, The Architecture of the City. ed. by Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine, Arts and Studies Institute for Architecture and Urban (Cambridge, Mass. ; London: Cambridge, Mass. ; London : MIT, 1999) Sennett, Richard, The Fall of Public Man (London: London : Faber, 1993) Strange, Julie-Marie, ‘Tramp: Sentiment and the Homeless Man in the Late-Victorian and Edwardian City’, Journal of Victorian Culture, 16.2 (2011), 242-58 Tanekenov, Aslan and others, ‘Empowerment, Capabilities and Homelessness: The Limitations of Employment-Focused Social Enterprises in Addressing Complex Needs’, Housing, Theory and Society, 35.1 (2018), 137-55 61

Walters, Derek, The Feng Shui Handbook : A Practical Guide to Chinese Geomancy (London: London : Aquarian, 1991) Williamson, Emma and Kieran Wong, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A Space to Exhaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, Architecture Australia, 105.5 (2016), 40-42 Yacobi, Haim, Constructing a Sense of Place : Architecture and the Zionist Discourse, Series: Architecture and the Zionist Discourse (Aldershot: Aldershot : Ashgate, 2004)

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Edited Gibson, B. 2019. We are the trampled. [Diagram]. At: Cardiff: Cardiff University, School Of Architecture.

[OI/13] https://www.propertyweek.com/news/landg-invests-446m-in-housing-for-croydonshomeless/5102370.article [OI/14] https-//nypost.com/2019/12/02/newark-sues-to-stop-nyc-from-relocating-homeless-to-newjersey/ [OI/15] https-//centrepoint.org.uk/about-us/blog/6-ways-to-help-homeless-young-people-in-coldweather/ [OI/16] https-//www.bigissue.com/latest/how-do-people-become-homeless/ [OI/17] https-//www.newmarkettoday.ca/local-news/york-youth-homelessness-program-gets-boost-fromunited-way-1151516 [OI/18] https-//www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2019-03-11/homelessness-kills Original diagrams [OD] Gibson, B. 2019. We are the trampled. [Diagram]. At: Cardiff: Cardiff University, School Of Architecture.

Original Photographs [OP] - Images 1-18 Gibson, B. 2019. We are the trampled. [Photograph]. At: Cardiff: Cardiff University, School Of Architecture.

Original Maps [OM] Edited Gibson, B. 2019. We are the trampled. [Map]. At: Cardiff: Cardiff University, School Of Architecture.

[OM/1] OS MasterMap Raster [DWG geospatial data], Scale 1:500, Tile(s): , Updated: Month Year,

Ordnance Survey, Using: EDINA Digimap Ordnance Survey Service, + URL + , Downloaded:

December 2019 [OM/2] OS MasterMap Raster [DWG geospatial data], Scale 1:7500, Tile(s): , Updated: Month Year,

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December 2019 62

appendix.

Interview 1 / Rainbow for Hope Drop-In Centre / 12:51 / 23.11.2019 Billy Elizabeth Hope (Participants anonymity) Freddy James Keith

B L

Principle Researcher Founder of Rainbow Of

have been re-named to maintain F J K

(As soon as I pressed record, James was very quick to start talking) J

I’d say from the age of 19, I was a postman.

And what happened, because there was a lot of drugs on the streets, and I uh ran into the wrong crowd and ended up becoming a heroin addict, and the problem is then that no one was willing to help you with housing, like saying we’ll help you here, to put you in some sort of accommodation, so I was living on the streets, and I suffered for 9 years on the streets and all that… I see that the government don’t seem to be helping anyone, just chucking them on the streets, it’s a quick fix, back in prison, back on the streets, There’s no prospect. Back in the days or about 7 years ago, they used to give you like um, probative status when you left prison, now there’s no probaty, you know, and you’ve gotta actually, people go out there way to actually smash a window just to go back to jail, because theres more stability in jail. Because there’s lives.. like any child.. any kid, you need stability in your life, you know what I mean… and when your life’s so chaotic, you turn to drugs. You know and that’s the way it is, these people have been put through the care system, probably a lot of them have been abused, a lot of them have been on drugs, you know theres no hope of any prospect for these sort of people so they see breaking the law as… uhh basically second nature, and then you know, and the worst thing about the government, instead of educating, they seem to want to punish and in my eyes punishment is not the answer. They think it’s a game, the police have always thought it was a game. In my eyes it’s not a game when you’ve

got people’s lives getting destroyed on the streets, and on top of that they’re destroying other people’s lives. So, they’re miserable and they’re making other people miserable. It’s a vicious circle. How can we have these people, how can we deal with situations, you know to stop the homelessness. We have to get to the point, instead of skirting around the problem, what’s the problem what’s the issue? How can we resolve this problem before they become homeless? You know, prevention is better than uuum cure. No prevention is better than doing it. And that’s what I mean, it’s like the tents and all that, its improving, but theres still issues, with people on the streets. I’m lucky now, mi living with my mother, but vie been suffering for the last 20 years with mental health, and where some people are so ill, psychologically ill, vulnerable people on the streets, they’ve got no voice, you know what I mean, and when your that weak and you’ve got no voice, you’ve got no one to speak up for you so when you’re stuck on the streets, your homeless, your cold, when your weak and you’ve got no voice anyway, you’ve got no one. With me, I’m just lucky mi strong, but like I could imagine what he’d be like (points to Keith), you know he’s on spice and has got no prospect of life and the best thing for them is death, you know suicide, because theres no hope and all that.

B So where were you living on the streets?

J I was on the streets for 18 years B In Cardiff ?

J I was on the streets of Cardiff for 18 years yeah, actually on the streets, that why I know how cold it is out there, its freezing, you know and they’ve got this spice out now and this new drug to deal with their problems, it’s a vicious circle, there is no way forward unless, like every organisation needs a voice, you know but they haven’t got it, and the only voices they have got are the people who just wants to get paid and then f*** off, they just want to give them a 63

bit of soup jump back in the bus and go, then get paid… there’s no like, like you… like other people and like anyone in life, you’ve all got… you might have a mortgage, you might have a kid, everyone has got their own struggles, but instead of worrying about that, it’s about basically, getting you know, helping, helping, you know dealing with situations. Instead of skirting round the problems and all that like putting people on methadone. I don’t see any point in that, they put them on methadone and then they use on top of it, what’s the whole point? The reason the government puts people on methadone is to stop the crime rate, that’s all. You put ‘em on a drug, a controlled drug, which stops them from committing crime, that’s all it is, that’s what I see, to stop the crime rate, instead of seeing potential behind a person… because I’m Muslim, I been Muslim for like you know, 16 days, plus so I’ve been Muslim for a while now, you know, I’m learning myself and all that, I want to help, and I’ve suffered with paranoid schizophrenia, I’ve been sectioned off for two and a half years like, because I got done for like attempted murder, like got 8 and a half years, but that was time ago, but now vie changed a lot. Like my violence used to be up there (raised arm above his head) but now vie changed a lot. I’ve struggled in a world which isn’t perfect, but I am a strong person, my mental health goes down, like mi struggling a bit today, but when mi in the right place, I got heart, and vie got a voice too, you know you have to admit that you’ve got problems in your life otherwise theres no way forward, but with the homeless situation, I don’t care about me now really mi more about helping other people, mi clean… mi clean for 4 and a half years, I don’t take Subutex, I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t take nothing, mi clean, teetotal, but it’s taken me years to get here, it’s a massive cycle, but like the government just don’t care, you know they can easily build a massive building, get it monitored by like they’ve got here (points at haggard hostel across the road), get it monitored by four security guards, and at least they’re keeping drugs in control instead of having little kids pick up little needles, with dirty people… how are they supposed to respect other people when they don’t even respect themselves, and I mean it, you know chucking needles on the floor, little babies could walk past, innocent baby done nothing wrong, hasn’t broke the law, and some scumbag, not scumbag, it’s just the way they see it as doing nothing wrong, but they could have hepatitis, AIDS, which I think 90% of these boys have got hepatitis or AIDS. You ask Keith, Keith has got AIDS. J 64

I don’t wanna put Keith down, I don’t want to put anyone down, Hepatitis is rife and HIV… F Yeah but a lot of these places now, give you injections J Yeah, but he’s got AIDS F Yeah but if you stay in these properties, like this place ere (points to Wallich hostel) or I was in the Sally Army (Salvation Army), and I was in J They actually help you stay off the drink, because they’ll have a 1 to 1 with you on a daily basis, and you stay clean, it’s got a 95% success rate in there, see I bet you’re off the drink now aren’t you…

F Oh yeah I don’t do that no more, I’ve got no money for that J But these sort of hostels, that’s all they’re doing in there… (points to Wallich) injecting, shagging, you know, f***ing, they actually give you the drugs in there F But it’s not only that, the people on the streets are selling it to ‘em, you think they’re beggars, but they’re not actually beggars, they’re probably having money off J 90% of these people are not even homeless, you know that don’t you? Most of em ‘av got places and all that. Maybe 15%, Maybe 15% are actually on the streets, all the resting are f***ing drug dealers, there isn’t many genuinely homeless people there anyway F I’ve been drinking since I was 8, and I’ve never had a problem, then my marriage broke up, and I had two years on the street in Bridgend.

We had none of this there. But at least here you have the Wallich where you can go and have a shower, you know but I slept in car parks and whatever, and you meet some nice people on the streets J But where you’re from in the Valleys, it’s a close knit community, everyone knows what toilet paper you use to wipe you’re a**, but its good because its more trusted. In Cardiff, it’s a city,

and they’ll rob…

I’ve been dead from heroin back in the day, but instead of phoning the ambulance they just robbed me, at least phone the ambulance then rob me, and that’s how low they are like, they didn’t even call the ambulance, I was dead, in a coma for 7 days.

F It’s such a cosmopolitan place as well, everyone is looking after themselves rather than helping others as a community. You know when I was in the village, everybody knew everybody.

J Even a city should have community places like this F You know I’m in a rented place now, you know and there’s 1, 2, 3, 4 of us in there now, two of us were homeless, salvation army for 10 years and the only reason I’ve been there 10 years is because I was clean.

J Yeah, you’ve done well, because they have no respect for themselves, they don’t even care about it, they’ll kill ya, and take your money, but if their life was to be taken, they wouldn’t like it then, that why it’s more about educating them see. What if someone came up to you and stabbed you up, would you like it?

B Of course not!

J No not you, them, that’s what you’ve gotta think about. You’ve gotta hit it hard with them.

Instead of going you’ve been abused, this happened to you when you were younger, you know, wake up, smell the coffee, and look what you’ve done, you’ve robbed an old woman.

Do you think she deserved that… that’s what I mean. Most of them hide behind, pretend they’ve had a bad life because they’ve done bad things themselves. God says in the Qur’an, admit your own fault then you start seeing reality. You see that a lot, they pretend, but I say no mate you’ve done it because you’re a bad person too, we’re all capable of doing bad, just admit to your faults. Basically, it’s self-pity, self-pity gets you stuck in a f***ing rut. (next section is unclear as the centre got very busy) F When I was on the street, it was in the Sali Army at the time, Elizabeth was selling coffees and

teas, years ago it was, I found out she was in a shared house on Newport road, I was driving all around the Valleys looking for her, then I came here and she asked if she could help in any way, and I didn’t want anything like, all the help id had, I just wanted to return it. I mean I was married 25 years, you know it was great, I was earning good money, £30k in the valleys.

J So what… You’re recording this now, what is your purpose…

B So I’m currently studying Architecture…

J What do you want to get out of this?

B I’m finding out about the City Centre and Cardiff, and how the city centre has allowed…

J So what’s that got to do with Architecture?

B Architects design cities accommodate everyone

for

people,

to

I’m trying to get to know about people’s experiences within Cardiff, and I am trying to get people to document a day of their experiences in the city centre, and what pieces of the city they use to live in.

F This is like Clifton Street and Albany Road and City road, you would get a better quality of life than you ever would in the city centre, there’s nothing in the city centre, nothing, you can walk right through there and no one says hello to anyone.

J The market is the best place in the city centre, but even that has gone downhill, that will be closed soon, they need to open up a place like that so people can interact with each other.

F They can’t close it because it’s a listed building, that the only reason, the one in Bridgend was exactly the same J With Christmas coming up now , it is a big spot, because you’ve got the winter wonderland, has always been brilliant, you know, I love the winter wonderland

65

F That’s where the money goes, so you do get the bad people there then, like the pickpockets and the beggars, they all go there, and because the cities dead, they all go there J Why can’t they give these youngsters somewhere to work or do something positive, like a pool table, you know what I mean, like this place (looks into centre) you could easily turn this place into a youth club, monitored properly where no one would mess with drugs at the back.

F The old huggard centre had a minibus, when they moved…

J He’s an architect Liz he is B I’m a student (conversation goes on) F I went to college for 8 years J (interrupts again) I was a postman I was, used to deliver to Stan Stennett, you know him. I used to be a supervisor. But I got sacked I did, did £70k fraud, I had 7 years in jail for it. I can never be trusted now by the royal mail. I tried being a security guard after that but it’s different now I suppose. Since being in jail, I knew so much about breaking the law, because I was a supervisor, It was on about £400 at the age of 17/18. I was two away from PHC3 at the age of 19. The top PHC1 delivers to the queen. I was PHC3 so I could deliver to like comedians and all that, you’ll be surprised but you have to be so trusted to deliver to the royal mail. Security questions and all that. I’ve been to downing street though. I’ve been there a few times with the royal mail on like work experience and all that. Yeah it was a good job and all that and I wish Id never done that, they had no proof I had the money, but they did… they had all the mail, in my mother’s house they found 270,000 letters in the attic like you know checks, so they had me, so anyway 8 years I did. Banana man was in there for 21 years, I was 19 he was like f***ing 50, so he got me in on it really, he should have helped me, or stopped me, but I was in on it, I was young init. From there, my life went downhill like, I’ve done 7 years since like init. Got attempted murder and everything 66

since then.

F So where are you at now then? In the Wallich?

J I haven’t been on the streets now for 7 years, I am in and out of houses though, I live with my mother now, I’ve got a flat coming up soon, I’m away from all that, I’ve been off drugs for 7 years though. I don’t smoke spice and all that, I just smoke tobacco, but for 14 years I was an alcoholic, when I was young and started drinking a lot. But now I could have a can. I could have a spliff now and not do it again. But I do now believe on God and mi Muslim now, and I have helped a lot of people on drugs. To be honest mi training to be a drug counsellor.

I’ve been doing it for the last 4 years behind the scenes. Passed all the courses, got about a year left on it. I’m not supposed to talk about that really.

F I said to my doctor I’m drinking too much and she sent me to a place where there was more people drinking in there than I was drinking J Yeah its useless, it’s like sending an alcoholic to a pub F But you know if I’m sat at home and I want a drink, I’ll have a drink you know (James heads out for a cigarette) B So how long were you on the streets for?

F I was on the streets for two and a half years in Bridgend and about nine months up here, and it was by chance, because I was going to the Wallich, and there was 6 of us living on the street together, and I was the only one that went to the Wallich for a shower and put some clean clothes on, because I met this girl and got friendly with her, she was from Neath, so we got tracking, and she’s working in these places as well (points to hostel) and she said look I’ll get you a place and kept giving me clean clothes every other day, and washed my other ones for me and got me a place in Aber(illegible) for a couple months and she said I got you another place and I said where’s that? She said in Cardiff. And I said oh mi not a city boy. Born and bred in the valleys like you know what I mean. So it was hard for me like. But then I moved into DyFrig House, a

Dry house, and like him Im one of these who will help anybody, so I got stuck in I worked here in the kitchen and cleaning, then I came out of there because you’ve got a two year period and you’ve got to give somebody else a chance, which is fair enough. So then I went down to Sali (Salvation Army) and met a guy called Nathan, who was like a mentor to you, somebody who could help you, and he was like ‘you shouldn’t be in here’, and I was helping in the kitchen and things, so he said ill find you somewhere now, so he knew this landlord in Cardiff and I got to meet him and funny enough he was a valley boy, so he said has got somewhere for you, and moved me in, vie been there 11 years February, and I haven’t looked back. To go from not knowing anyone in the area, its worked out lovely, because I’ve got my shops there, and everything else, everything’s like at hand you know what I mean? Theres 1, 2 , 3, 4, 5 flats, and I only know 1 person there, that’s how secluded I am like, keep to myself you know, but it’s a nice place.

B So your right in the city?

F Yeah its only 5/10 minutes, you know where Albany Road is? Just off there. But I only come here now because a friend of mine needed some help here so I thought I’d come down.

But I met Liz when she was serving teas and coffees or whatever, giving us something out of her own pocket, good woman. Then I heard she had this place so I asked can I help in any way, this was an old car sales place this was, two cars in the front and two cars in the back and an office, so I came down and put some shelves up and things. Then it progressed and I moved away a bit and said whenever you need just give me a shout. Now I found myself doing nothing so I come down. She knows ill help her out, but I don’t want to take work away from the volunteers like you know, so. I feel welcome here and a lot of the people in here I know from off the streets. And there was a guy that did a group for the people and take the druggies and all that, he’d take them doing something, picking up tins off the beach or cleaning railway lines, doing graveyards you know, 4 days of that and then maybe two days he’d take you out canoeing or gorge walking, things like that you know, and it was good because it took your mind off doing things, well at least for 8 hours a day, what they went back to was something else, he said can you give me a hand, cause I knew all the boys like, he said if there was any messing about don’t have it, so he couldn’t do that, so I said calm down you know, and we had allotments, so all

the fruit and veg we grew, went back into the haggard centre, yeah I enjoyed it, then when they moved to the haggard from the old one, because of the cost and all the rest of it, they took his project off him and couldn’t afford the expense of running a minibus and his wages, he’d been doing it for 22 years, poor bugger and whatever so he set his own place up in Barry now, has still doing well apparently, good guy… him and his father.

B So why do you think people try to resist stay in hostels, because it’s still a problem…

F The only reason they resist is that if they can stay in the streets and beg or get the money, that’s the money they have then for their drugs, because they know they can’t get away with it in there (points to Wallich) 9 times out of 10, some do yeah don’t get me wrong, but whatever their earnings are it goes to them, and then they cant have their luxuries, which is silly really because they get their food and everything, yeah its difficult, theres a lot out there, begging and they make more money per day on the weekends, up to £40 a day, especially coming up to Christmas now, I had a friend that spent 3 years in an empty building, to slept, and he was going into spar, everybody knew him, servers in spar were give him sell by date food and coffee, like that, you see any beggar, they’ve always got food or drink whatever on them and they haven’t got no money like, they’re the bad people, making a bad name for everyone else, especially in Cardiff, in the city centre.

(James comes back, talks a lot about his new religion, and his faith giving him hope, Freddy offers further assistance) Interview ENDS Interview 2 / 13:24 / 23.11.2019 (Keith told me before the beginning of the interview that he had been using spice, and was clearly a little distressed, so I made sure he was okay and assured him that he didn’t have to speak to me, however he insisted and wanted sit down) K I went to jail, my sister got raped by my uncle I went jail and when I came out, my mother and father died when I was in jail, so I came to Cardiff then. I left the rest of my family. I had no money, I was begging on the streets, some days you do without food for 3 or 4 days.

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Liz looks after me here, if I didn’t have Liz id be dead. I’d be dead. If I didn’t have Liz id be dead. So she helped me out. It was hard. I’ve been sleeping in skips. You can’t just sleep in skips all day when you’ve got no money. You’ve got to get out and get money for food. I was in a skip one day and went into the wagon and nearly got killed, he tipped me into the wagon and nearly killed me. It started crushing it. it was scary. You see people on the streets in the doorways, they begging for drugs. I beg when I go out, I haven’t got a choice, £50 in two and a half hours for drugs.

Drugs drugs drugs. You see maybe about 50 people in town begging. When I’m on the streets like, none of them are homeless, they all got houses, when I go and beg I say this is my spot I’m homeless but they won’t move you know. You know in the night Ive been stamped on, broken jaw, eye socket, broken arm. People stamped on me loads of times. I’ve been stamped on so many times, it horrible. I don’t go town anymore.

B You don’t stay in the city? You stay outside of the city?

J I got two pound now, between two of us, so it took me all morning to get this so I’m trying to get in somewhere, he’s an alcoholic so I give him a pound, then I’ll go and buy a bag of chips with the other pound. It’s not always all about myself, I always think about other people, I don’t care about myself. I wish people would care. If everybody looked after eachother, we’d all be alright. Everybody thinks about themselves. You know what I mean. (stands up) K I tell the truth I do, half of them are not on the streets, just begging for drugs. That’s all they do.

You’re at university right?

B Yes K My nephew is and he’s got a loan, so I don’t like begging off people like you, because you’ve got debt from the loan for the most of your life, so I don’t ask people like you.

Interview 3 / Cardiff City Centre / 14:21 / 08.12.19 68

Billy David

B D

Principle Researcher Ex-Rough Sleeper

D I had a mental breakdown because I lost a member of my family and that, and I done hardcore, trust me, hardcore isn’t … for the streets right, what it means is, hardcore, ill explain it. Its where you have no blanket, no quilt, no tent nothing. All you have is your clothes on your back and your coat. Well I went the opposite way, my coat, me clothes on me back, no shoes. I walked round in me bare feet, with snow rain you name it, I done it. When its cold out like it is now, I rided it out.

By St Davids Hall, in town, by the old cinemas, right. How I survived it I really don’t know, but I did. I didn’t beg, I didnt ask for nothing, I didn’t ask for money or no ones help. That why I ended up as anorexic as I am now, which I don’t know whether I should blame myself or I shouldn’t but Im on medication for it all.

When I walk round town and saw everyone with quilts blanket, tents, you name it, I didn’t. No one offered, no one offered to help me, even thought of helping you know. Then I went out and got myself a motor, used to go out to Barry, by the fun harbour, It was his mother that gave me a quilt, which is in my bedroom in my flat.

I got off my backside and got myself a flat.

I’m making that load and clear. If it wasn’t for them people, I would have been dead by now, but like I said to you earlier, if I lose my home now, I lose myself. That’s me finished. And I’m not joking, everything I put into my home, I bent over backwards for. I was someone who didn’t have anything, just a white coat which is hanging up and the clothes on my back. Ill tell you something, when you’re out on the streets, you’re constantly on alert, there is people out there that will stamp all over you, theres people that will challenge you, theres people that want to beat you up, that look at you like scum, and that’s no joke. If you weren’t doing this thing on homeless people and I came to you and said can you spare change or whatever, youd probably say f*** off mate youre scum.

People out there. I used to go in town with my speaker and used to play me music, mind me own business and I used to have people throwing cans at me, their burgers at me, their chips, And I was thinking what? What is the need for all that? And I used to sit by Boots in town, It was Mary Street or Queen Street and I used to listen to the music, police dancing to the music and all, you can see them plain and clear. You get people throwing burgers at you, everything, saying you scum little bastards and everything, they think everyone is scum. And

its wrong, it wrong, fair enough theres people out there who take drugs, theres people out there um who on all differet lkinds of stuff.

Since I lost my mum in November last year, I went to drink and im not going to deny it. I find it a bit of a problem because I lost 10 people.

More than average that a person could ever go through. Im under support workers, im under everyone now I am, and, all I gotta say is, im proud that ive got off my back side and ive got a place. Ive got a lovely home. When I had a partner, my ex partner, she used to rob me, sell my stuff, rip me off, everything so basically what I got now, im protecting it basically, im protecting my own home, im going to do whatever it takes, but if I lose this and I go back on the streets, then I wont be around, it feels like everyone is knocking me down. I couldn’t go through what I went through ever again, oh no. Even though I got a pair of shoes on now, but back then I didnt, I had no shoes, just a pair of socks, walking round in bare feet and snow you name it, never again. Never ever again no way, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Never again. Youre constantly on alert, you get people stamping on your head, people pissing on you, you get people wanna beat you up. Everything. You know and its wrong, and people are seeing you sitting there judging you, even though you look tidy, they say your scum, and they say what are you on the streets for? And you say “what? Just because you got a home and youre sitting there judging me? You don’t know the background of it all do you? “ And they don’t. With most homeless people, its to do with the background, its whats happened to them, and a lot of people don’t understand that. Right. With me, how I ended up on the streets is through my mother, and she said she would put me on the tenancy and she didn’t.

No fault of her own because she got ill, im not going to go into detail but she went terminally right down, and that’s how I ended up on the streets, and I was on the streets for nearly 3 and a half / 4 years. Well I was in Barry for 3 and a half, I was over here (Cardiff ) for whatever, then I got me own place. I was ducking to and fro, trying to keep warm trying to survive. But I wasn’t drinking then, I wasn’t on nothing. But no it was wrong, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

But now the governments buggering everyone else up. A genuine person would know whos who and if they don’t, its them who has the problems. Not anyone else. You know who take the drugs, you know this, you know that, whos who. No it wrong. The way people judge people is wrong. Just got to try and plod along, living life as it is.

B So are your family on the streets? All of them?

D Four of them are B Your brothers?

D No not my brothers, my cousins. My cousins are on the street, I tried to help them, they stole off me and it was sentimental and that was the last straw. I wouldn’t do that to anyone even if I was on my last legs or I had to starve, Id rather starve I wouldn’t steal off anyone, im not that type of guy. My friend will tell you that, it doesn’t matter what you’ve got, you could have more than Ive got, I don’t care. What ive got, ive got to be proud of. Ive got to hold my head up. Like I said to you, if my home gets taken away that’s the end of me. Basically it takes my life away. But im determined I am.

B What do you want to do in your life, what are you determined to do, what propels you in society?

D My home, and everything what I got around me, its only my mate and me, I don’t interact with no else but my mate, I don’t see anyone else, Its just mainly me and him, like tonight, I said what are we gonna do then, he said “ do you fancy going into town for a bit” or are you not allowed out so we went in town. So we went to the Golden Cross had a couple of drinks there, but we had a burger first, I was straving, because the medication im on helps you to eat, and so we went to winter wonderland and went into bonanzas, I won £90! So I thought ive got a bit of money, So we went to the Golden Cross, my mate said we won’t get in there. But we got straight in. See I even knows the bouncers in town, I know a lot of people.

B Its always helpful isn’t it, where Im from I know them too!

D Well its helpful, but then its bcause im well liked, because I don’t interact with a lot of people, youre lucky im sat here telling you all of this.

B I really appreciate ie D Because normally I don’t. I couldn’t invite you back to my place. As far as I know you could be 69

one of these people that just wants to come around and take my stuff. You know what I mean, but im giving you the benefit of the doubt. Im just speaking the truth. Because I don’t know you from Adam, and im sat here talking to you. Just take that into consideration. A lot if people will tell you, I will not just talk to any person. Because I… what’s the word… when I shut down or something.

B You isolate yourself ? You close yourself off ?

D Yeah, My mate will tell you this. He knows my life history he does. He said ive got a lot of respect for you, you’ve gone through more than I could ever imagine. He asid to be honest you go through more than I have.

B Its just about talking to people D But I don’t trust people. Me, yeah fair enough ill sit here, im talking to you now, but when you go, ill be thinking, F*** why did I talk to him, I don’t even know him, ill be kicking myself left right and centre. That’s the way I feels. But that’s me, not you, not anyone else, just me. Ill get over it one day.

B Theres a lot of support in Cardiff D I get that now, Ill tell you why, is because I was trying to kill myself. Took way too many tablets and I’m lucky to be here. I had my previous partner and she started cheating on me behind my back and lying to me, and I don’t like lies. Im straightforward and I don’t like no lies. It got a bit too much and started having me arrested, for assaults that never took place. My mum bought me the laptop, and she tried to get me done for being a paedophile.

I was trying to protect my daughter. Nothing happened and the police couldn’t apologise to me enough. She did it to move me from the area, that was up in Grangetown. Then she carried on with her lies and I couldn’t handle, I got up and walked out. I have seen her once or twice and she wants me back. Never Again.

Id rather die before I go back to you. That’s the truth. : “I don’t want you dead” I said well leave me alone then.

B And this is when you were on the streets then?

How did you live on the streets?

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D I went to Liz at Rainbow. I went to see her, then I got talking to Mike, the guy that walks around giving food and whatever to homeless, I got in with him. Ive lost his number, I need to get back in with him. Andrew, who is the minister of a church which is up in Grangetown, knows where he lives and his family. Know probation just up Lewis Street. I lost my mate and I tried to handle it, then I lost my brother and went to probation and I was crying my eyes out as I got the phone call. It was 9 at night and I had the phone call at 9:30 the same night. And he goes were the police and were coming round to your property. And I said no you f***ing aint.

Then they said we’ve got some bad news for you. I said well you can tell me on the phone.

When they told me, I hit the floor. Went down.

I was on the streets when I lost my mate to drugs. He was taking Spice.

B Spice is terrible, I spoke to a guy stuck in that horrible cycle of taking spice and he thought it was the best way of dealing D No, anyone can change their life. I was on the streets for 4 years and in that 4 years, ive gotta say, it must have been the hardest time of my life, you’ve got no one to help you. Yu get treated like scum. You’ve got to be awake to be alert. They either stamp on your head to kill you… look how many homeless people have died through people standing on their heads or pissing on them. You think ah its raining its not its other people pissing on you. That is wrong it judgement. They’re not actually seeing the person inside. Its like me, if I was on the streets now and you came up to me. I wouldn’t look at you any different to how I would have been. You would just probably think I look cold. My white coat saved my life. It was a godsend. So I looked online, I found my place, and I had a text in April this year that I had the place. Ever since I’ve been building up.

Did some hedge-cutting and gardening for my tv and soundbar. Bought another TV on heart foundation. Got my bike off a guy in Newport I did some electrics for.

Part 2 D I went to the council and spoke to a lady called Julie. I goes look I haven’t got a place to live, im on the streets, im getting sick and tired of being in the cold. I don’t think my body can handle it anymore. She said well weve got a place in the Huggard centre. I goes okay fine.

So I goes up to the Huggard centre, stayed

there one night, oh my god, the things that went on in there is unreal, I could not wait to get out of there, I could not wait. People taking drugs in there, people injecting themselves, it was unreal. 6am in the morning the staff asked me if I wanted a coffee, I said Ta da mate im gone. I couldn’t wait to get out thtrough them doors. 9am I went straight up to the council and saw Julie, had a go at her, and said are you trying to torture me? They may as well have just locked me in a cell or beat me. That’s what the Huggard was. You see people taking drugs, you see people taking spice, its was unreal. I thought no no no, you have to stay awake because they try to pickpocket you and try to steal your stuff and Im thinking, s***, ive got my phone here, my lifeline. So I stayed awake all night. Then I went up to St Davids hall, where I used to stay. The security guy came out and brought me a coffee and said you can stay there, he gave me a blanket in the end he did. He said you stay there and ill come out from time to time and keep an eye out for you. You get some rest. I said don’t send me back to the haggard centre. He said I never sent you there in the first place. I thought he sent me there, but it wasn’t, It was Julie from the housing thing. Then they sent me to the other place…

B The Wallich opposite the Rainbow of Hope?

D That’s it, never again. I never felt so uneased in all my life, so I stayed on the streets, then they put me in the walk, City Road. I went in there, I had room 11, window was broke, freezing as hell, the worst room ever. There was no hot water, nothing. I thought f*** this im gone. Same night I ended up back on the streets. Then I sat there and thought to myself why are they doing this to me? Am I that bad of a person? Then all of sudden this lady was stood there. 30s/40s. she said youre not a bad person. I was just going over why they did it to me, putting me in a place where people does drugs and god knows what and then they put me in the other place where you said, and I thought na, its torture. I wasn’t begging or asking for nothing, wasn’t asking for food. Then I got in with a guy called Andy then Sarah and a couple others.

They does the soup run in the vans. He goes if you get problems paying your rent or bonds or whatever, we”ll help you, and I didn’t know that. He could see I was determined to get my place. I got bond in writing and first months rent. All I had to do was find a place. I thought should I? Would I be safer in my own home or on the streets. You have to weigh it up. Then I was talking to some girl who keeps in contact

with me, who used to come and see me, and she brought me a coffee, and said what are you gonna do now. I said, I don’t know, I’m freezing, I’m aching, my backs in half, because when you’re on the streets you’ve got to curl up in a ball to keep yourself warm, and sometime I put the hood over and breath into the coat so you’ve got the heat from your breath. She goes, so what are you gonna do? You tried the Huggard, the Wallich, the Walk, the others and you came out, to you they’re torturing you, and that’s the way I felt. I couldn’t have it, I had to think fast as the bad weather was kicking in, I was fed up of having no shoes on, I gotta think fast. So I went up to Liz at rainbow of hope and started talking to her, and she said first things first, lets get you a pair of shoes because you cant walk round like that. I said it depends how my feet will take it. So I used to go up there every day, which ive got to go back again and see her. From there she helped me and I got in contact with this guy called Mike who gave me a bible actually. All the homeless people were stood around him and out of all the people he gave me a coffee and said come her. He said this means a lot to me. And he gave me the bible. I said why me? He said there was something about me that’s special. I brought it home and sat there and read it, its says to Dave, from Mike. The I used to sleep by the crown court near the central police station.

The guards used to come out in the morning and move the other two, not me. He said you take your time. I couldn’t understand why they were being roughneck with the others and not me. Mike then gave me a blanket and a quilt right at the last end of me being on the streets, because I applied for my flat and had to wait for it to get passed, so in the meantime I was still on the streets. I didn’t wanted to get out of the quilt and blanket, I was so warm.

The wind was blowing and the rain was hitting the steps and I thought yes! I can’t feel cold. I don’t know how I coped, everyone was looking at me and I couldn’t understand why. Its only because Rachel and some lady said you’re the only one that hasn’t got a quilt and blanket.

My heart really goes to you. So she got me a coffee from MacDonald’s and that and asked me why I didn’t have a blanket, and id dint know why because everyone else has a tent and that, all ive got is my coat. You’ve must be frozed she said, and I said I am literally frozed.

I was shivering and everything mate, I thought I was going to die, serious, on the streets because don’t forget I didn’t have any shoes or nothing, only the clothes what I had, and my coat. I thought I was a gonner. If I stayed they’re much longer, my body wouldn’t handle it. And my body is anorexic, so my body feels it a lot faster.

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we are the [tramp]led. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Across Britain there are 236 ,000 people experiencing the worst forms of homelessness today including 9,100 people who are sleeping roughâ&#x20AC;?.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of MArch, 2019 Billy Gibson / 1335602 / Dissertation / Year 5 / Welsh School Of Architecture, Cardiff University [O I / 19]