Discussing Homelessness.

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Homelessness

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin by telling you a little story. Everyday, on my way to work, I come across this smart and neat young man selling the Big Issue. I never pay much attention to him and in fact would rather he wasn’t there at all making me think about all those people in the UK who, like him, are homeless. How many of you have ever felt that same way? Most of us try to ignore these people living in the streets who are forced to beg for money as if that solved the problem and made them disappear. But it doesn’t.

 So thinking about this, one day, I decided to help this young man and buy the Big Issue from him. That day I arrived late to work because I had spent so much time speaking with Matt who turned out to have been at college with me, we were in the same class! His story after college, however, was quite different to mine.  He told me he had been living in the streets for five years now and that he had an ex-wife and 8-year-old son in Wales, where he had been living. He had been sacked from his job as administrator in a well-known business due to his frequent hourly absences to find gear. He had found it impossible to find a job – “nobody wanted a junkie as an employee, even though I had excellent qualifications” he told me. His wife ended up divorcing him claiming she was ashamed and felt he would never be able to find a job and take care of his family.

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Matt left home and came to London to find work, detox and start a new life. However, life in London was much more expensive than he had thought and Matt found he couldn’t even afford a bed and breakfast. He didn’t know anyone who could accommodate him or help him find work either so he was forced to spend the nights at the “Cardboard City” and the days begging or looking for something to eat that night. Until he found a job at the Big Issue which was “a ray of hope in the middle of that dark misery”. As ...

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