I met a woman called Sarah this week who changed my perceptions of Britain’s rough sleepers.
I’ve bought coffees for homeless people in shop doorways and given money to youngsters begging.
But if anyone was high on drugs I’d think: “They’ll just use cash to get a fix. How can you help someone who won’t help themselves?”
Having spent a few days on the streets of Cardiff, I now realise just how many homeless addicts and alcoholics DO help themselves – only to be failed by this Tory government.
Sarah, 36, had a dad who was a drug dealer and was addicted to heroin and crack at the age of 13.
In a violent relationship she had two kids taken away, ended up homeless and stole to feed her habit.
She got hepatitis C from a dirty needle which led to cirrhosis and a chronic lung disease. In the past decade she’s served 22 prison sentences.
“I’m ashamed of what I’ve done,” she says, “I even sold my body to buy drugs – but after a while prison felt like home. Three meals a day, a proper bed, a break from reality.”
Six months ago Sarah fell in love with homeless former drug user Marcus, 34.
“He told me, ‘If you use, I’m gone,’” she says. “And I’ve lost everything else so I’m not losing him.
“I’ve been clean for 33 weeks now. I haven’t nicked a thing.”
Sarah and Marcus dream of having a home. But they’re not deemed “housing ready” as they refuse to stay in drug-rife hostels on a huge waiting list for scarce accommodation.
On the other hand if they lived in Scotland, where the Housing First strategy is transforming lives, they COULD be housed with a rent guarantee and access to 24-hour support.
It’s a system which should be rolled out urgently across the UK.
This Government needs to axe its target of ending rough sleeping by 2027 and act on the problem NOW.
Sarah told me: “I had a flat once, which I kept really nice. I had food, electric and paid my bills.
“So I don’t think I’m a hopeless case. I could keep a home of my own again.
“I just need that last little bit of help.”