Last week MP's voted on a change in the law to ban revenge evictions by private landlords, the proposed change was overturned because it was deemed unnecessary. I wonder how it is then that I have spoken to a terrified woman this evening who is living in appalling conditions, her back yard piled with rubbish, her house damp, her gas cooker leaking so that she now has no gas in her home. Add to this a Landlord who despite collecting £90.00 per week from the council for her has made not only no repairs and refused to clear the rubbish that he had promised to move before she moved in, but has also threatened her with eviction if she reports the gas problem to the gas board.
She has been to the Council, who told her that they thought those properties were empty while at the same time paying her rent allowance directly to the Landlord! She is desperate for help and had no idea where to turn and came to us cold, hungry and very scared. Hopefully we can help her, but hers is not the first story we have heard of people living in terrible conditions and afraid of being made homeless. Last week MP's voted to turn a blind eye to the behaviour of unscrupulous Landlords who prey on the vulnerable. People should not be made to live in terrible conditions because they fear eviction and homelessness, nor should they be condemned to living in these conditions because the fact that they are apparently "housed" pushes them to the bottom of the list for Social Housing. There should be proper recourse for them, but sadly many slip through the net afraid to speak out for fear of reprisals.
Another issue was raised this evening as we were confronted with 14 people reporting as homeless, which is interesting because the Council on their annual count up of people sleeping rough in the area are reporting that there are only 3. How strange, maybe we are being told lies, or could it be that when the Council employees go out to count up homeless people that they don't go into derelict buildings, and don't count the numerous sofa-surfers who might have a bed tonight and not tomorrow? We know of people sleeping in the Public Toilets, of folk sleeping in derelict buildings, of people who hope that their friends will put them up for another night but whose friends fear eviction for sub-letting as they are not allowed to have folk to stay on a long term basis.
How is it that the Government and local Councils can be so blind to what is going on in this country, for I know that the problems and issues we are speaking of are not peculiar to Blackpool? How is it that it is so easy to disregard and de-humanise people? And why is it that the popular press and programmes like Channel 4's Benefits Britain propogate myths and lies by highlighting the few who abuse the system and calling them the majority.
This evening 25 of us gathered around the communion table, prayers were prayed and we shared the bread and wine with one another, there was a deep reverence in those who gathered and received, the moment was holy and it is what the Comfort Zone Community is centered upon, the love of God for all. The love of God for all; tonight I recieved hugs and prayers from several folk who were gald to see me back after I had been of sick, one of the guys said, "welcome back Sally, we missed you here in because we are family." These folk are not scroungers, they are folk who have fallen on hard times and need to get on their feet again, and many do, at the beginning of this year we had 2 client volunteers, people who came to us as clients and now help out, we now have 8, add to that the fact that 3 more have become full volunteers, no longer needing the service but wnating to give where they have received.
We could all fall on hard times, we could all need a hand now and then, an nobody should be simply written off, as we break bread we remember the God who loved us so much that he gave of himself in an extraordinary way, how can we not do the same. We see lives changed, ur lives are being changed, as I received the warm embrace of the community this evening I too received a level of healing, these folk who are so often discounted and forgotten are my friends and they deserve better.
Blackpool Promenade, Image mine
