Joe David sits in the doorway of the Market Street branch of Greggs . He is holding a cardboard sign.
It reads: “I am grateful for the help and support when I need £15 for a bed. Thank you. God bless.” A woman bends down and drops some spare change into his paper cup.
The 52-year-old is originally from Glasgow. He is freezing and exhausted, the reality of life on the streets written across his face. Issues with alcohol and relationship breakdowns mean he has been sleeping rough on the streets for the past eight years.
Joe normally beds down in a sleeping bag in a doorway on the opposite side of the retail hotpot. In the last week, life on Market Street has been even more difficult than usual.
More than three inches of rain fell in just 24 hours from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day. Last night (January 2) a Met Office warning for ice came into force.
In the early hours of this morning (Friday, January 3) temperatures of minus five degrees were recorded at the weather station closest to Manchester city centre. Joe said he ‘dreads it’ when the weather turns.
“It’s s**t” he told the Manchester Evening News frankly. “And hard, so hard. It’s just horrendous. Unbelievable. Especially with the cold and the rain. The rain is probably worse because you can’t get dry. Once you’re wet you just can’t get dry. At least in the cold you can just wrap up a bit more.
Joe says life on the street is ‘horrendous’
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“It’s coming to something when you say last night wasn’t even that bad, I’ve had worse. But when its freezing you can’t sleep. You just have to keep walking about to keep warm. Then get some money in the day to keep you going. Sometimes you can grab a bit of sleep in the day. But it’s hard work. It’s just terrible, it shouldn’t be allowed to happen in this day and age.”
Nearby, on Deansgate is Phil Brown, from Salford. He is 70 years old, and is perched on a step outside a shop.
He points to a charity worker trying to raise donations in the street – sometimes referred to as chuggers – and says “we don’t see none of that!”‘
Phil has been homeless for ‘many years’ and spends time on the streets as well as sofa surfing. “I’m lucky that I managed to kip on a friend’s settee last night” he said.
“It’s bad, really bad” he said. “It’s so hard to find shelter, and if you do find some, you get shifted out. I usually go in doorways or cars. All you can do is wrap up
“But it’s no good. Especially at my age. Winter is just bad news. It’s nasty. I worry about my health. Sometimes I wake up and I’m so cold I can’t breathe.”
Phil says he has had offers of temporary accommodation but adds: “It’s hard for somebody my age because they put with you kids, who are all on drugs and I’ve done all that. I don’t want to do that anymore. I want somewhere with people my own age.”
An insulated tent on Cross Street
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Further down Deansgate, underneath the canopy of Kendals, sits Stefan, 30, and his friend Mac, 44. Stefan has been sleeping rough ‘on and off’ for around four years, two of those in Manchester city centre. He says he has had ‘bad relationships’ and has suffered with his mental health.
Last night he bedded down outside a music shop in a sleeping bag on top of a blanket, with another blanket on top. “It’s really bad. If you move, you feel the cold straight away. In the middle of the night you have to just cocoon yourself and stay still. If you start tossing and turning that’s when the cold gets in. You need about four or five hand warmers.
“I don’t beg or anything but people give you stuff, warm drinks and stuff but it seems to be at the wrong time. They seem to do it more when the weather is nicer than now which is when we need it.”
He says outreach workers came to speak to this morning. “They haven’t said they’ve got anywhere for me. I’m not a priority. But if I’m not a priority then what am I? A piece of s***t on the floor?”
Phil Brown
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Over Christmas he says his phone, tobacco and a balaclava he used to keep his face warm which were tucked underneath one of his blankets were stolen as he slept.
“You get idiots who think they can just take stuff. No one comes near my doorway now. I’ve had to become aggressive with people, I don’t want to do that but you have to. I’m not sleeping properly, it’s just on and off. Unless you’re on hard drugs but I’m not. Some people don’t help themselves.”
Mac, who once worked as a chef but who has been on the streets continuously for eight years, says last night someone, he suspects was on drugs, grabbed one of his blankets and ran off, and that he had to chase them to retrieve it.
He says he sees the cold as ‘just another challenge to overcome.’ “You have to put more time and effort in to organising yourself and your stuff” he said. “I’ve been through it and you learn.
Stefan
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“I realised that hand warmers are essential. The heat they generate stays in your sleeping bag and circulates so I can’t do without them now.” He says a charity also dropped off a hot water bottle which a local cafe filled up for him. “If you can survive this, you can survive anything” he says.
Year-round provision is available at the Etrop Grange Hotel in Wythenshawe, but Manchester City Council says ‘we know that in periods of extreme cold weather more people are likely to accept an offer to come inside.’
When the weather is forecast to drop below zero, even for one day, a severe weather emergency protocol is initiated which by the council and partner agencies, leading to increased outreach work which operates until 4.30am in the morning.
The town hall says this allows them to ‘connect them with any additional support that they need and carry out housing assessment to find a suitable move on pathway.’
Tents in St Peter’s Square
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Councillor Joanna Midgley, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council said: “We work year-round to help people off the streets, giving them access to the support they need to help them get on with their lives.
“However, as it gets colder, people are more likely to accept help and come inside. This is why we expand our outreach offer and our officers, along with partner agencies, work into the early hours seeking out people who have bedded down so that we can offer them the opportunity to come indoors and access additional support
“This is especially important as sometimes coming inside in cold weather is the impetus that they need to accept help that we, along with our partners, can provide. It is often the first step on the road to a better, healthier future.”