REVEALED: Around 70 people are homeless on any given day in Doncaster

On any given day there are about 70 cold, tired and hungry people living on the streets of Doncaster without a place to call home.
Sleeping rough.Sleeping rough.
Sleeping rough.

But while that figure is alarming, project leaders at the M25 Housing & Support Group - a charity which supports homeless people - are keen to point out that there is a human face behind the numbers.

Executive director Joyce Foster told how the group was formed in 1994 following the death of a homeless man due to hypothermia on the streets of Doncaster.

Laurence Snaith, Joyce Foster and Michael Morris at the M25 project.Laurence Snaith, Joyce Foster and Michael Morris at the M25 project.
Laurence Snaith, Joyce Foster and Michael Morris at the M25 project.
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She said: “The emotions we had at the time can only be described as anger and outrage that this circumstance could have happened in the 20th century. It took the death of a man on the streets of Doncaster to finally result in formal action to begin the delivery of a homeless service.”

Joyce herself has undergone a rollercoaster of a journey, having had personal experience of homelessness when she was younger during a troubled period in her life.

The 53-year-old, of Campsall, said: “I was repeatedly homeless as a teenager. I can say with some authority that homelessness is not a lifestyle choice, it is a very frightening experience and the feelings of vulnerability are profound.

“If you see a homeless person and you experience fear, I can assure you some of the more frightening behaviours homeless people may display are born out of a basic need to keep people away from them in order to best protect themselves from abuse, theft, exploitation and violence.”

Carl Robinson, Volunteer, Daniel Munn, Volunteer/service user, Andrea Milner, Chair of M25, Phil Bramley, Doncaster Free Press Editor, Sam Archer, Property Development Manager and Neil Green, Project Director, pictured during the official opening of Made By U. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP 10-08-15 M25 MC 15Carl Robinson, Volunteer, Daniel Munn, Volunteer/service user, Andrea Milner, Chair of M25, Phil Bramley, Doncaster Free Press Editor, Sam Archer, Property Development Manager and Neil Green, Project Director, pictured during the official opening of Made By U. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP 10-08-15 M25 MC 15
Carl Robinson, Volunteer, Daniel Munn, Volunteer/service user, Andrea Milner, Chair of M25, Phil Bramley, Doncaster Free Press Editor, Sam Archer, Property Development Manager and Neil Green, Project Director, pictured during the official opening of Made By U. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP 10-08-15 M25 MC 15
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Joyce became involved with the M25 project in 2013. Their centre, which moved into new premises at the former Doncaster Free Press office in Sunny Bar last year, offers a number of self-containted flats with showers, toilets and kitchen facilities for homeless people. It is also a drop-in centre where people on the streets can get advice and access to programmes to help them beat addiction, get back into work and housing.

The building also houses Made By U, an initiative which sells cut-price carpets to raise money to help sustain the M25 scheme.

Joyce said that while they are doing all they can to combat homelessness, their research indicates the number of people on the streets in the town is on the rise.

She said the homeless rate in Doncaster has risen annually by about 12 per cent in the last several years.

The former newsroom of the Doncaster Free Press at Sunny Bar, now part of the M25 centreThe former newsroom of the Doncaster Free Press at Sunny Bar, now part of the M25 centre
The former newsroom of the Doncaster Free Press at Sunny Bar, now part of the M25 centre
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She said: “In the past nine months M25 have provided advice and support to over 1600 people. Our own analysis would suggest that on any given day in Doncaster 67 people will be homeless. This includes those reporting to Doncaster Council and those informal homeless people staying at the homes of others because they have no home to call their own.”

Joyce explained that there are a number of factors which could explain the rise - including a lack of employment opportunities and the need for more education and training programmes.

She said: “The reasons for homelessness arise from multiple factors including redundancy, relationship breakdown, family disputes, domestic violence, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, inadequate life skills that may have arisen due to family/parenting problems, offending behaviour, mental health problems to name but a few. Very often, and more commonly so today, homeless people may have multiples of the issues listed above.”

So how can we solve the problem?

Laurence Snaith, Joyce Foster and Michael Morris at the M25 project.Laurence Snaith, Joyce Foster and Michael Morris at the M25 project.
Laurence Snaith, Joyce Foster and Michael Morris at the M25 project.

Joyce said: “The best form of help for homeless people is achieved through as normalised a living experience as possible. Every homeless person has some personal skills and ensuring that those skills are maintained and developed will ensure that homelessness is seen as a transition based episode.

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“Retaining levels of personal responsibility for all aspects of life is critical in achieving a smooth return back into an independent and fulfilling life.”

One former homeless man Laurence Snaith, aged 60, said he would “be dead” if it wasn’t for the support of the charity. The ex-soldier spent much of his life in and out of homelessness since leaving the forces in the late 1970s.

He said: “There was a drinking culture in the army and it creeps up on you.

“Sleeping rough in winter - its impossible to describe how bad it is. It’s a vicious circle, you drink to escape.”

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He has since found a place to live in Doncaster following help from M25.

He said: “You have to put the work in, but help is there. You can turn your life around.”

For more information visit www.m25group.org.uk