By Laura
When I was down at the bank in Manchester I met a fab lady, we were talking about the lockdown and the issues people are facing. I went into how I do tours around Manchester to educate people on homelessness, then this is where she opened up about the issues she has seen over the past few years, and more so within the lockdown.
Her remarks were simple:
It doesn’t matter who is in power, more homes is needed, that each person has a right for somewhere warm, with a hot meal in their belly. It doesn’t help that we got a so-called mayor who only said that he wanted to get rid of homelessness to get voted in, it seems like that as a non-voter (all politicians Lie) that the Conservatives have done for the homeless community. It breaks my heart to see so many people out on the streets even in this madness what we all call Covid-19. When will people learn that compassion is the best way in life like it was back in the day, when people were there for everyone. If you needed a cup of sugar, you can go next door, or if you needed someone to look after your kids, you had someone near by to look after them. We all need – not just the few but all – to wake up to the issues that we face.
It doesn’t matter if you are black, white, blue, pink or green, we all still have a heart and love in each one of us, that we all bleed the same blood, that all need a job to go to, support that we can have each day of our lives.
Anything that local councils can do need to do it, they need to be held responsible for their lack of care to people in their area. Landlords and private owners who rent need to take note that we have a homeless issue within the UK and stop over-charging people. It will take 5 people to rent a two bed flat in the centre, but for that amount of rent you can rent somewhere like Huddersfield in a 6-bed home for the same rent. People need somewhere to stay warm and be looked after, supported and cared for.
So my final view on this matter. As the lady said, we all need to be back like the nation was before, with support for each person, with passion to support each other, to be there when someone needs us, to be there to talk to.
This lockdown did that a little and now we coming out of it and people are going back to their way of life, we are starting to lose that passion for each other. As an ex-forces personnel I know how it is not having anywhere to go, and the lady hit it on the head – we all, as a nation, need to do something to support the ones that protected us, and to give us the right to free speech, to fight wars to ensure that we never have to again.
It’s all about education when its comes to homelessness and Covid – just like everything else that is happening around the world – we are now at a point to make things better. It doesn’t matter about how we do it, where we do it – everyone is equal in many ways.