30

TheC

hron

icleMarch

28,20083

1Th

eCh

ronicle

March

28,2008

TH

EIS

SU

EEvery

week

weturn

thespotlighton

oneofthe

importantissues...........in

thecom

munity

As

volun

teersacross

Ch

eshire

takep

artin

the

Govern

men

t’sh

omelessn

esscou

nt,

RE

BE

CC

AE

DW

AR

DS

talksto

aform

errou

ghsleep

erab

out

how

her

lifetu

rned

aroun

dw

hen

she

becam

ea

mu

m

‘Iw

on’t

tellmy

littleb

oyab

out

lifeon

the

streets’

Don’tmiss

nextweek’sChronicleforafullreporton

theroughsle

epersheadcount

Lifehasdrastically

changed

for31-year-old

Kerry

inthelast

18months.

When

Th

eC

hron

iclefirst

featured

herstory

atthe

beginningof2007,sh

ehadjust

moved

intotheMileston

eshostel

onEgerton

Street,

Chester

afterfouryears

trappedinacity

housingvoid

thatleft

heronthestreets.

Iinterview

edherinastuffy

basementkitch

enandshetold

mehow

sheslept

ontheRows

untilshewaspistol-w

hipped

byadru

nk,thenmoved

toa

railwayarch

near

the

racecourse.

InFebru

ary,sheintrodu

cedmeprou

dlytoherfour-

month-old

sonandgave

mea

tourofhersmallbutcosy

housingtrustflat

inNewton.

“Theyoffered

metwoflats

butIchose

thisonebecau

seit

hasgot

alittle

garden,so

I’vegot

tofindalaw

nmowersoon

,”shesaid.

Sheadds

with

asmile:“I

never

thoughtI’dbetalk

ing

aboutgettin

galaw

nmower.”

Kerry

grewupinNewtow

nandwenttoKingsw

ayHigh

School

where

shegot

Bsand

CsinherGCSEsandaGNVQ.

Shefell

intohomelessn

essafter

takingparen

talrespon

s-ibility

forher10-year-old

brotherwhenshewas24.

Unable

tocope,sh

eturnedto

drink,herbroth

erwastaken

intocare

andshewasevicted.

Curren

tly,Chester

hasno

emergen

cybeds

forwomen

foundrou

ghsleepin

gso

Kerry’s

then-boyfrien

dwas

givenahostel

place,butshe

wasturnedaway.

Charity

workers

inChester

expressimmensefrustration

thattheycan

providegood

facilitiesfor

menbutoften

the

besttheycan

dofor

awoman

isgive

herasleepin

gbag

and

pointhertow

ardtheRows.

Capital

fundinghasnow

beensecu

redfor

asix-bed

women’s

hostel

inBlacon

butfunding

forservices

andstaff

muststill

befoundandthehostel

isunlikely

toopen

beforenext

April.WhenItell

Kerry

aboutthe

plannedhostel,sh

esays:“I’m

pleasedtheyare

finally

doing

somethingbutithastaken

toolong.M

aybeifIhadbeen

givenachancetoget

offthestreets

earlierIwouldn’thave

stayedthere

solong.”

Kerry

talksalm

ostfondly

abouthertim

eonthestreets,

butadm

itsthatshegot

too

accustom

edtothewayoflife.

Shesaid:“I

suppose

Idid

choose

tostay

afterawhile.

Youget

toknow

people,Ihad

justlost

mybroth

erandIwas

lonely.

“Thetim

eflew

andIrealised

Iwouldendupdead

orinjail.

Youget

toacertain

pointand

realiseyou

have

toget

out.”

Shewas“overjoyed”

tofind

outshewaspregn

antlast

March

becausedoctors

saidherdrin

kinghabit

mighthave

stoppedhercon

ceiving.

Shemoved

into

accommodation

forhomeless

families

duringherpregn

ancy

andwasgiven

herflat

inDecem

berwhenherbaby

was

onemonthold.

Workers

fromChester

Aidto

theHomeless

gavehernappies

andfurnitureandstill

visitherregu

larly.Shesays:“W

henyou

areon

thestreets

youfeel

invisible,Ifeel

norm

alagain

now.

“Whenyou

arehomeless

youdon

’tpay

attention

tothe

norm

alpeople

inthestreet,it

islike

theyare

inyou

rfron

troom

,youfeel

likethestreets

belongtoyou

.“Sittin

gatthebusstop

lastnightlook

ingatthepeople

aroundme,I

couldpick

outthe

homeless

peopleamileoff.I

realisedthatishow

theymust

have

lookedatme.

“Myold

neigh

boursfrom

Newtow

nandmyfrien

dsfrom

school

willspeak

tomeagain

now.Youdon

’trealise

how

manypeople

don’tspeak

toyou

whenyou

arehomeless.

“Awomanyesterday

put£5in

mybaby’s

hand,so

Ihave

put

thatinhistrustfundfor

his

future.”

Sheadds:“I

stillgotoAqua

Housefor

rehabandtheywere

worried

Imightgoback

todrin

kingbutIhaven

’teven

thoughtabou

tit–Idon

’thave

time.M

yhealth

visitorcou

ldn’tbelieve

Ihadbeen

onthestreets.

“There

aresom

egirls

onthe

streetswhoget

pregnantand

carryontakingdru

gs.Ican

’tstan

dthat–whywouldyou

do

thattoyou

rbaby?”

Kerry

hopes

towork

ina

hostel

whenherson

isolder,

butfor

now

wantstomake

the

most

ofbein

gwith

him.

Sheadds:“I

won’ttell

him

anythingabou

tbein

gonthe

streets,Idon

’twanthimto

know

aboutwhathappen

edthere.“Myboyfrien

dwantshimto

beafootballer

butIwon’t

pressurise

him,Ijustwant

himtoknow

rightfrom

wron

gandbehappy.”

LIFECHANGES:Kerry,w

hodid

notwantto

benam

edor

pictured,saysher

lifehas

beentransform

edbythe

birthof

herbaby

soninNovem

ber.

STREETSCENE:Theofficialrough

sleepershead

counttookplace

onThursday

acrossCheshire.

Seenextw

eek’sC

hroniclefor

areporton

howthe

countiscarried

outandwhatitshow

ed.JP020306V

AGRANTS

“IrealisedIwould

endupdead

orin

jail.Yougetto

acertain

pointandrealise

youhave

gottogetout.”

KERRY,31

Nigh

tshelter

givenfundsboost

EXTRAfundingfor

ahome-

lessfacility

inChester

has

beenannounced.

Crispin

House

emergen

cynightshelter

inNicholas

Streethas

beenawarded

£55,000through

thePlaces

ofChange

programme.

Thehostel

isrunbyChester

AidtotheHomeless

(Cath)char-

ityandcan

houseuptoeigh

tmen.

Themoney,w

hich

isgiven

out

bytheDepartm

entofCom-

munities

andLocal

Govern

-ment,willbeused

toupgrade

hostel

dormitories

intosingle

roomsanddevelop

existing

medical

facilitiesalon

gwith

education

andtrain

ing.

Theidea

ofthegran

tisto

transform

hostels

into“notjust

aplace

forthenight,bu

taplace

backintotheworld

ofwork.”

Chester

CityCouncilP

rincipal

HousingOfficer

PaulSim

psonsaid:“O

neofth

emain

problems

atthehostel

wasthatintwo

roomsthere

were

three

bedswhich

didn’tgive

peopletheir

ownspace.

“Thisgran

twillenable

usto

extendthefacilities

inthose

bedrooms.”

Chief

Execu

tiveof

Cath,

Robert

Bisset,

added:“If

youasked

anadu

ltinthemain-

streamcom

munity

toshare

aroom

with

astran

gerthey

wouldrefu

se,soIbelieve

itis

justandproper

thatmoneyis

spenton

thehostelto

givepeople

individu

alsleepin

gspaces

that

wewouldallexpect

ourselves.”

Work

isexpected

tostart

this

year.Thehostelgran

tcom

esweeks

afterfundingwasannounced

forasix-bed

women’s

hostel

inBlacon

.Curren

tlythere

arenoemer-

gency

bedsfor

women

inCheshire.

Chester

City

Council

recog-nised

theneed

foradirect-access

women’s

hostelin

itsHomeless-

ness

Strategyfor

2003-08but

missed

itspledge

toestablish

the

facilityby2005.

Now

asuitable

sitefor

wo-

men’s

serviceshasbeen

iden-

tifiedinBlacon

Avenu

eandini-

tialfundinghasbeen

providedbyMuirHousingAssociation

.Thecentre

islikely

tobeup

andrunningbyApril2009.

GOINGGREEN:Chester

Catholic

High

Schoolstudent

Bronw

ynO’Neill,prize

winner

inarecentcom

petitionto

designagreen

leafletandrunners

upCallum

Boyd,

Samantha

Jonesand

Erick

Bannerm

an.TC140308design-003 P

up

ilsgo

greenat

school

ACHESTERCatholicHigh

Schoolstudentis

encouragingher

classm

ates

tothinkof

green

erwaystogetto

school.

Year9studentBronwyn

O’Neill

wonacompetitio

ntodesig

naleaflet

toencouragegreen

transport

andahealthylifesty

le.Her

prize

wasaNinten

doWii

andrunners

upCallum

Boyd,Year8,Samantha

Jones,

Year7andErick

Bannerm

an,Year9,all

receivedcashprizes.

Theprizes

were

bought

with

moneyraised

from

recyclin

gmobilephones.

Thesch

ool’sthriving

eco-tea

mencouraged

studentstobringina

disused

phoneinretu

rnforwearingtheir

own

clothesfortheday.

Thecompetitio

nwas

organised

byteacherTony

Crew

e,thesch

ool’s

environmentaleducation

coordinator.

Saturday

29thM

arch