southbristolvoice
4
September 2017
n NEWS
All mod cons in Jasper’s shiny container homes Continued from page 1 site, at first in a rapidly converted container and a mobile home. Now the real aim of the project is being achieved – to give people individual homes in their own all-mod-cons containers, with a fully plumbed bathroom and kitchen, double glazed doors and windows, in a neat, clean environment. Two containers are finished already, a third is almost ready and a fourth is under way. Another container is on site ready to be converted. Under the supervision of builder Gary Cleverley, homeless people are helping at every stage, from cutting holes in the metal walls, installing wiring and
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Independent living: Inside a container
RALLYING ROUND JASPER says he has had a “fantastic” amount of support, particularly from skilled tradespeople giving their time for free. Whitchurch-based builder Gary Cleverley has been spending up to a week at a time on the project. He has been involved from the beginning six months ago, and so have several of his seven staff. Bathroom Village in Winterstoke Road has donated plumbing, and fitting wooden walls and insulation. From inside, the finished containers look like a new studio flat. Jasper started his charity, Help Bristol’s Homeless, because WE ALSO DEAL WITH Rats • Mice • Squirrels • Moles • Pigeons • Gulls • Ants • Fleas • Bed-bugs • Flies • Moths
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showers, cubicles and toilets, while Greenheat of Coronation Road has installed much of the plumbing. Dan of DH Frames of Irby Road, Ashton, has supplied and fitted double-glazed windows and doors. Other firms have donated materials, including Robbins Timber of South Liberty Lane and Johnson Paints in St Philips.
HOW YOU CAN HELP Donate securely at • helpbristolshomeless.co.uk he saw a rising number of homeless people and anti-social behaviour in and around North Street and East Street. After a public outcry about the plight of rough sleepers two years ago, there are more hostels and bed spaces in the city centre. But that isn’t always the answer, Jasper said. “Most of the guys that come here don’t want to go to a hostel, where they
Station is 90 GET ALONG early to Parson Street station on Sunday September 3 and you’ll see a steam train pass through at about 9am, helping to mark the station’s 90th anniversary. Visitors will be able to enjoy special train-themed light refreshments, get an engine face
might have someone in the next bed who may be drunk. They just want to be safe.” Providing temporary beds and then individual accommodation is the start of a route off the streets, he believes. He has much bigger plans, though. “Once we have 10 containers here I would like to get a double decker bus going around the streets. We could provide up to 16 beds upstairs as well as hot meals – they have one in Ipswich.” Then he wants to move the containers to a bigger site – a plot of council-owned land beside the Create Centre, off Cumberland Road. Council planners are against the idea, because the site is in a flood zone, though Jasper says the containers can easily be raised above the ground. Jasper, a former soldier, bodyguard and fashion shop owner, is convinced the container idea is cheap and flexible enough to make a difference for some of the estimated 150 people who sleep on Bristol’s streets. “The public think the answer is empty buildings they see, but who’s going to staff them and who’s going to pay for them?” he asked. • More on Help Bristol’s Homeless in future issues. paint as well as see a new informative plaque about the station’s history unveiled. There will also be 1920s musical entertainment and opportunity to purchase a special station 90th anniversary memento. The event is hosted by Friends of Parson Street Railway Station and runs from 9-11am. • Facebook: FoPSRS.
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