Blogs Reports

Craving Connection


Reported by Mat

Published on Friday, January 21st, 2022

Digital Inclusion/Exclusion Identity Substance Use Support and Relationships Volunteering and Employment
Blogs Reports

Craving Connection


Written by Mat

Published on Friday, January 21st, 2022

Digital Inclusion/Exclusion

Identity

Substance Use

Support and Relationships

Volunteering and Employment

This report mentions drug taking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I realised during the pandemic that I’ve spent my life driven by an almost pathological desire for connection. It’s why I ended up hosting parties in the 90s. Raving was all about the connection and the thing I loved most about doing those parties was bringing people together. It was really something to see the way people got on when they were given the environment to.  

I became homeless on the back of a traumatic event that I just couldn’t handle. Looking back on it now, I gradually disconnected myself from friends, institutions and mainstream society. I lost the house, then my smartphone went, I started to avoid friends and when I wore out my sofa surfing tokens, I broke that geographical connection by fleeing Brixton to set up in Finsbury Park. Finsbury Park was quite simply the place I knew most junkies per square mile.

I had to make money to score and the guys I knew up there were professional shop lifters. As you become more marginalised the connections you make become increasingly dictated by survival and necessity.  

And as those connections to my long-term friends and support network disappeared so did my connection to the virtual world. Don’t get me wrong, I would never be one of those people who presents a version of my life without cracks, but I was deeply ashamed when I first became homeless, and I certainly wasn’t about to share my domestic situation on Facebook. 

That’s one thing these reporting projects have done for me. Sharing my story has helped me to overcome that shame and move on. It seemed that the more vital connectivity became the less connectivity I had.

It’s so difficult to find services, to apply for stuff and get advice without a link to the net.  Although many people moan about the negative impact of the net on social life, research is showing that social exclusion is exacerbated by digital exclusion, especially for people experiencing homelessness.  

Meanwhile I was stuck with a shitty little pay as you go phone that cost me 30p a minute and 30p minimum call. My fiver top up would be reserved for the most important thing – phoning my dealer. It was no use getting a tenner to score if you had to spend a fiver topping your phone up to call him.

But for those who do have the hardware, there can be problems with data limits and a lack of expertise. People experiencing homelessness can be faced with disapproval from some of the public who think that it should be a privilege to own a phone. At the end of the day a smartphone is almost as essential as water in modern society.  

And as time goes on the more disconnected you can become and the harder it is to get back. One way of finding a route to reconnecting is volunteering, as it creates an opportunity to get involved and busy without having too shoulder too much pressure. It has worked for me.  

Projects like this, which encourage people to share their stories, use communication to help with connection. Communication and connection are based in sharing that creates that healing balm of empathy and a desire to be part of society once again.

Join us: We see the hub as the start of a movement of people, all united in the belief that elevating our voices will challenge stereotypes and help decision makers end homeless health inequalities. Join us by signing up to our mailing list – the Listen Up! mail out.

Written by Mat


Mat came to Groundswell in 2018 after several years as a volunteer for the Pavement Magazine where he is now Deputy Editor. Part of his role at the Pavement was to help deliver ‘From the Ground Up’, a partnership between the Pavement and Groundswell that taught core journalism skills to people with lived experience of homelessness. As a Project Officer he continues to develop his one on one interview skills and runs focus groups all over the country. Mat’s involved in all parts of the research process, helping to produce: research frameworks; the foundation questions for semi-structured qualitative interviews and focus groups,; the content of quantitative surveys and data analysis. He also has experience of speaking at conferences, working on grant applications, podcast production and as a consultant for film production.

Read all of Mat's articles

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Digital Inclusion/Exclusion Identity Substance Use Support and Relationships Volunteering and Employment