Reports

‘First they came for The Tents’


Reported by Denise

Published on Friday, December 15th, 2023

Human Rights Stigma
Reports

‘First they came for The Tents’


Written by Denise

Published on Friday, December 15th, 2023

Human Rights

Stigma

Many of us saw the distressing footage recently, which saw rough sleepers’ tents and what was left of their belongings dismantled by council workers and thrown into refuse lorries like so much rubbish.

Read the article here.

Onlookers were horrified, those whose belongings were destroyed in the sweep left devastated, as once again they found themselves being kicked in the head and penalised, simply because they don’t have a home.

But it wasn’t just tents that were destroyed there that day. It was what was left of people’s lives. Their precious mementos, photographs and keepsakes… things that meant SO much that they made sure that they kept hold of them: even as everything else in their life fell away. Things that are now broken, lost, gone forever. Things that can never, ever be replaced.

Also destroyed that day was their hope for a better future and a hell of a lot of faith in humanity… and who can blame them? Because the bottom line is; that council workers taking from people who already have nothing, leaving them destitute and broken and completely in despair, should make all of those involved in making that decision hang their heads in shame.

And if that thought doesn’t then this photograph should:

Inside this “pile of rubbish” is a homeless woman. My friend Mark Horvath (founder of Invisible People) came across her recently while he was checking on rough sleepers and handing out socks.

She doesn’t have a tent.

And while a certain former home secretary might be pretty glad about that, the image of this woman all wrapped up in bin bags terrifies me.

Because this time the rubbish trucks came for the tents… but if we buy into the rhetoric that “homelessness is a lifestyle choice” my fear is that one day they may just come back for her…

Written by Denise


Denise Harrison is an award-winning writer and film-maker, whose writing career began back in 2017 when she was newly in recovery and living in a homeless hostel. As a way to cope in an ever-changing and often challenging environment (and also as a way to understand herself and to try and make peace with her demons) she began to write, and her website "Just A Girl-My Life" (justagirl.emyspot.com) was born.
Next came her short, dark, animated film "This Is Depression" which won 8 film awards and accolades, and which was the spark that lit the proverbial fire and kick-started her career as an artist who pulls no punches with her brutally honest stories of mental health, homelessness and addiction.
She has 18 awards to date... both as a writer and as a film-maker, is a public speaker, mental health advocate, activist and campaigner and is also beyond proud to be an associate on the world's first cultural leadership programme founded by Arts and Homelessness International.
She is a community reporter for the Listen Up! project,  and shares her knowledge and her story in the hope that others can be inspired, and take heart in knowing that recovery is possible.

Read all of Denise's articles

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Human Rights Stigma