#10: -  

Yes, Wanstead is a lovely middle class area and let's face it if you were a beggar, because somehow, through some awful bad luck in life you (unlike "the others") ended up with absolutley nowhere to go, no family to turn to, no security or comfort - then maybe you too would choose to come to Wanstead because . . . well, why?
Maybe because in Wanstead many, many people have been kind to the "beggars". I have seen so many people offering comfort to those sitting crumpled on the dirty pavement. I have seen young guys buy a homeless chap a cup of coffee, I have seen elderly ladies take the time of day to sit and talk to the homeless people, I have seen the lady selling the Big Issue inundated by caring residents who bring her items of clothing for her family or give her a few pounds so that she can buy herself some lunch. I even saw one old chap buy a poem from one of the squatters which made me chuckle. I guess the thing is that of course we don't want to see scruffy beggars messing up the idyllic high street. We don't want kids being flashed at (obviously) or people having sex in phone boxes (although I don't think one has to be homeless to try this).

The thing is that we must address the causes of the problem: if the problem is impoverished, homeless addicts causing havoc on the high street then how can we actually help to improve their lives so that, rather than shift them on so that they continue to behave in such a self-destructive way elsewhere, we can actually support, educate, house and feed these young people so that perhaps they may aspire to live and work in a society which embraces them rather than create a barrier excluding them from everything we consider it our right to have.

I do not condone any of the anti-social behaviour I have read about. However, I would question the language used to report the events. "The black guy..." "A man with a limp..." descriptive or derogatory?

If there was a half way house for young people...

If there were places for these young people to fight their addictions....

If there was a homeless shelter in Wanstead... (Well, I know how many reacted when this was proposed on Cambridge Park a few years ago - many people protested . . . I was shocked at the bigotry!)

As a child I was abandoned. I spent some time in care. I was adopted by an amazing Catholic family. Every time I see a homeless person I shudder with the thought that I could be the one sitting there, having to swallow my pride enough to be able to ask others for a few pence.

How lovely that one restaurant in Wanstead offers free food to homeless people.

If we turn our backs on the desperately poor people who have suffered in life then who will they turn to?

If I had been left in that care home...if my parents had thrown me out...if my foster carer had not cared enough...if no one had given me a chance...if my father hadn't ... if my mother hadn't... if illness, sickness, mental health issues, depression...divorce...death...if...

I intend to open a dialogue with the 4-5 recently arrived homeless people and to offer them the chance to share their stories.

How did they arrive at such a place? And I don't mean Wanstead!

When we sign this petition I know we are asking for police presence which I agree is great - we need that Bobby on the beat, we need our elderly and young people to feel safe, we don't want to see threatening behaviour or crude, offensive behaviour or hear that girls are harrassed or boys threatened. Of course not. But if we could also reflect on the fact that for the homeless young women "littering" our society such fear and abuse, such harrassment and intimidation is an ongoing part of their lives. For the young homeless men . . . I have seen them sob for their families at every homeless shelter I have ever worked in. As an expression of our empathy perhaps we could start a petition asking for empty properties in Wanstead and Redridge to be run as half way houses for vulnerable adults? Perhaps we could demand secure care homes to be provided for the hundreds of homeless people who are suffering from mental health issues.

Wanstead is a very wealthy place but of course we have many people who are suffering from poverty - yet many of us who complain about hard times have wonderful homes and families, a good education and a place in society. I would love it if in Wanstead we could help the people who have ended up on the streets - just like the person who kneels beside the beggar for a second to express concern, our community could offer support, compassion and education to the very people some of us currently fear.