Episode 1 Swansea: Return to the Streets

Soak me!

Having nowhere to go but to live on the streets is a last resort,

and there are many reasons why people end up sleeping rough.

I'm in bits!

I'm film-maker Chris Rushton and together with Tracy Harris,

over a period that spans three years we have followed

the plight of the homeless in Swansea.

It's no fun at all. Honestly now. No fun.

Now, we want to understand the difficulties many homeless

people face when they try to break out of the cycle of homelessness.

I haven't been to bed since I got out of jail, do you know what I mean?

Get out of jail and then they expect you to stay on the streets.

I don't make sense.

We wanted to find out what had happened to some of those

we'd filmed in the most desperate circumstances...

..and to discover if those trapped on the streets by alcohol

and drug addiction can change their lives for the better.

Swansea is like many other towns

and cities where homelessness is on the increase.

Since we began filming here in 2011,

there's been a dramatic increase in people asking for

help from the charities that provide food

and shelter for those with nowhere to go.

We'd kept in touch with many of those we'd met over the past

three years, including one of our favourite characters.

-Paul Bell my name is.

-Paul Bell.

-Yeah.

-I'm feral, you know the word feral?

-Yeah.

-What does that mean?

-Is that a sweater, Fair lsle?

-No, it means when you live off the land.

Paul was unique, the only one we'd heard of who spent his life

drifting from place to place all around Britain.

This is where I sleep.

He left Swansea and wandered all around the south-east

of England, as far as Canterbury,

through one of the harshest winters on record.

'Then, in July 2013, after 11 months on the road,

'he re-appeared in Swansea.'

How are we this morning?

Splendiferous and full of frivolity.

Now Paul is approaching his 50th birthday.

I'm getting on a little bit now.

My legs are going.

I can't walk like I used to.

And to me, Swansea is my home.

He'd only been back for two weeks and he had a surprise for us.

Come in, this is my domain.

He'd got a shared flat, a private rental.

This is my bed at the moment.

There's my TV, my lamp, but this is the interesting bit, out here.

This is our balcony.

What more could you ask for?

But despite his good fortune, he wasn't coping with four walls

and a front door.

Living here is a different sort of challenge,

which I'm not used to

and I find living here or anywhere...scary.

I can sit in front of the TV all day and watch TV,

playing music...whatever.

It's not what I want.

I want to be outside.

It worried me that he wasn't settling in.

He couldn't go wandering and carry all the kit that he needed to

survive like he used to because of his declining health.

New faces appear on Swansea streets all the time

and Barry is the latest addition.

That light's bright today.

For some reason, unbeknown to me, he carries a fishing rod.

Recently released from prison, he went to his home town

in the valleys of South Wales, hoping to stay close to his family.

The authorities in the valleys refused to help him,

so he decided to come here to Swansea.

Now Barry has teamed up with Dean.

Both are set on blanking out the realities of living on the streets.

I want to get pissed, don't get me wrong,

-I need to get the night over with.

-Excuse me.

But I don't want cider cos it just rips you to pieces.

It does rip you to pieces, boy.

-Does it?

-Yeah.

Just get me a can for now, we'll get more in a minute.

It's 24/7, isn't it?

So we can stop here at any time, so we'll be all right.

It's Barry's second night of freedom

since serving three years in jail, where drink isn't allowed.

I'm fresh out of jail

and I've got to go back to the drink cos I've got nowhere to live

and I want to take away all of the pain and the problems I've got.

Without having to realise it, do you know what I mean?

It's hard but that's the only thing I know.

Every time I get out I just start drinking again,

do you know what I mean?

His friend, Dean, is already the worse for wear.

I'll be that way soon, give me what...a month?

And now Barry's also on a slippery slope.

Now, he's ready to look for somewhere to sleep tonight.

What are you going to do? Coming with me, bruv?

Bruv, Dean? Dean? Coming?

-I'll be sat right by here, sir.

-Don't fancy it? I'm going anyway.

Dean sleeps where he passes out,

whilst Barry heads off to find somewhere out of the way

where it's safer to spend the night.

After three years of filming homeless people,

I'd realised that for many of those living on the streets,

trying to change their lives was extremely difficult.

And that finally getting somewhere to live wasn't always

the solution to their deep-rooted problems.

Paul had moved back indoors after 30 years on the road.

But he could never escape the bad memories of his childhood.

His father used to beat him

and when he was 14 drove him from the family home.

And that's when Paul hit the road.

Over the years he's lost contact with his family.

Paul wanted to find out what had happened to his mother

and sisters and he needed our help.

Tracy and I trawled the internet

and now we had something to show him.

-I've got a family out there.

-Exactly.

There's my sister.

HE LAUGHS

My sister.

I can't believe it!

Blew my mind, you have.

The internet is a mystery to Paul.

-You all right?

-Thank you.

It's all right.

He asked us to send his sister, Lynn, a message.

-He says...?

-I love her, I miss her, please contact me.

But we also discovered that Paul's mum had died.

And now we had to tell him the bad news.

HE SOBS

-My mum.

-I know.

Never got the chance to say I'm sorry.

You've done it to her cos you've

said it to her and that's, you know,

that's the best thing you could have done, you know.

-Oh, Jesus Christ!

-You made that contact, haven't you?

-Yeah...my mum.

I know.

There was no reply from the message we sent and as the weeks

went by Paul's hope of renewing contact with his sister faded.

He tried settling in Swansea but after nine weeks in his flat,

he'd had enough and he set off on yet another journey.

For a few weeks Paul kept in touch but then his phone went dead

and we lost contact.

Barry's problems began ten years ago.

After a relationship breakdown he started drinking

and taking drugs, which led to him getting into trouble with the law.

But there was a time when he was up-and-coming.

From the age of 18 till the age of 21, I worked on security, erm,

I started getting in trouble when I was about 22.

Once I left her, I went off the rails and I was still young,

so I went wild.

I discovered that Barry stayed in his sleeping bag

for most of the day.

Can't get a place.

I will get a place, it's just waiting list now

because I've got to get into a hostel, haven't I?

But I ain't priority, see, because I'm not from the area, so...

You know, eventually they'll get me a place

but till then I'm in a sleeping bag.

As long as I'm warm and I'm fed, I'll be all right.

He told me that he'd been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia,

a lifelong mental illness.

Without medication, this condition can lead to suicidal behaviour.

I hear voices and I suffer with paranoia

but it doesn't get rid of it, the problem,

it just helps you concentrate and try and think clearer.

Slows you down as well, so you're not reacting so fast to things.

Astonishingly, over half of those who are on the streets suffer

from mental illnesses, which often go untreated.

Alcoholism too goes hand in hand with homelessness,

either as a reason for becoming homeless in the first place

or as an escape from the stress of it.

Over the years, I'd learnt much about both from homeless,

lifelong alcoholic Tim.

When was the last time you've seen it like this?

He got through last winter with the help of his friend, Scott.

I haven't made it properly, though.

Haven't put it on properly.

I am not a tramp, I'm a bum.

What are you trying to say? A bum is bum who just bums around.

We're not tramps, we're just bums.

I am a tramp...and a bum.

Don't insult me like that, now! THEY LAUGH

Now, ten months later, Tim was in exactly the same spot.

Oh, you're back again!

My friends!

I'm OK, lady, thank you.

I'm always OK.

But Tim isn't OK. Alcohol has take its toll.

I've got six months to live.

-Really?

-Yeah, I was in Morriston Hospital.

Yeah, but I don't worry things about that.

Three weeks ago, Tim collapsed on the streets.

I'm aching in pain.

He was coughing up blood and was taken to hospital,

where he was kept in for eight days.

He told us that the doctors found

that he had an untreatable alcohol-related disease.

At the start, it depressed me.

But now I know I can't do nothing about it.

I have to be a man about it.

A man or a mouse?

I ain't going to be a mouse.

But because of his poor health, one of the housing charities has

fast-tracked him into sheltered accommodation.

So, I was puzzled why he still sometimes sleeps on the streets.

It's 7.30am and Tim's back in his favourite spot again.

Piece of shit!

That's getting on my nerves.

Soak me.

You get paid,

I don't get paid. Look!

Despite the harsh realities of street life, Tim prefers it

to life indoors -

it's not uncommon amongst those who have slept rough for a long time.

Another of the street drinkers we filmed last winter was Andy.

He's been sleeping rough on and off for over 15 years.

Are you aware this is an alcohol excluded area?

The police routinely issue street drinkers with

a section 27 order, banning them from the city centre.

I'm directing you to leave the area for 12 hours, yeah.

You need to leave straightaway.

The guy's a joke.

All he can do is pick on people, do you know what I mean?

I can't handle this life no more.

Last February, he got the chance of a lifetime -

a place in supported housing where he could tackle his addiction.

Most importantly it was in Yorkshire,

well away from the influence of his drinking pals.

Yes, I'm scared, but at the end of the day, I've got to do it.

I'm off to rehab! Take care, boys.

-You all right? Good to see you.

-Thank you very much.

-Good luck, Andy.

Take care, man!

The bus took Andy to Rotherham, where his rehab began.

In November, I was surprised that Andy had returned to Swansea.

I met him at one of the drop-in centres, where eight months ago

he'd been encouraged to go to rehab.

I've seen the footage myself and when I actually watch myself, I was crying.

Especially that part where I had a section 27 on the DVD last time

and I seen that part when I'm walking down the road saying,

"Forget this, I've hit rock bottom. I want to get out of this."

And then day I jumped on that minibus,

that was the part that hit me the most.

Four days later, I was out on the streets in the early hours.

I got here last night about...flipping hell,

I'd say it was about 11 o'clock-ish.

Found myself some lovely pieces of cardboard down there,

nice and dry.

Got this one, took it over the top of me, bang!

Good night, Irene, I went to sleep.

Andy did six months in rehab but now he's right back where he started.

He's not proud that he's drinking again and puts on a front.

Hello, how are you?

A Swansea homeless charity brings hot food to anyone sleeping rough.

Take it, in case we haven't got any left, yeah?

But after four nights on the streets,

Andy's keen to get indoors.

There may be a room going today, I don't know.

Last week they said there might be a room going on the Monday.

-Find out for me, will you?

-Yeah, they normally phone me and Zaks.

His past records with some of the hostels may prevent him

from getting a place.

Am I still banned or what?

Yeah, but that's irrelevant. If you're banned, that will

have to be looked at again, won't it, Andy?

-You're not banned from Paxton Street.

-No, no, no, I'm not banned from St Matthew's either.

-So, if there's a room, we'll try and get you an interview down there today...yeah?

-Cheers.

But Andy didn't manage to put his name down,

so missed out on the chance of a bed.

I discovered that living on the street can be as stressful

as being a refugee

and many homeless people suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Barry's beginning to feel the pressure that

comes from sleeping rough and being constantly insecure.

Compared to how he was when he was first released from prison

a week ago, he's become withdrawn.

It's not the first time he's been homeless

and he's aware that drinking won't solve his problems.

I can feel myself getting pulled in by it,

so...I've had a couple of days off, about two days now.

I have had a drink, yesterday I think it was

but not...getting pissed, like.

I reckon if I use my head I should be off the streets within

a month and a half.

Takes about a month and a half,

as long as you keep going to access points

and accessing rooms and just keep on and on and on.

Keep going to interviews, keep going to interviews,

keep going to interviews, you know.

You'll get there but it just takes time.

Andy, though, can't stay away from drink.

In rehab, he did six months without drinking

and even enrolled on a college course whilst he was in Rotherham.

But the temptation, when he went for an after class drink, was too great.

I picked up my first pint of shandy, I thought

"I'll have a shandy just to," you know, "shandy's not going to hurt."

So I drank that and then that,

after seeing everyone else having a good time, that was it.

I bought my first pint of cider.

And I knew then, from then, once I had that,

it was going to go further.

I had about five pints and basically after that,

erm, I got hammered.

I was drunk.

And just couldn't wait forward then to the next one.

Now, Andy's addiction to alcohol rules his life

and he is trapped, living on Swansea's streets.

The November rain has had one beneficial effect -

Tim didn't sleep on the streets last night, it drove him to seek shelter.

-The rain was wicked.

-Oh, was it?

I wouldn't know, I'm up in my room, my flat now.

-Up by the train station.

-Nice! Awww, so it's going well, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Oh, good, I'm glad.

-Take care, young lady.

-You take care too. Bye!

He was given the flat

because he has a life-threatening alcohol-related illness.

Yet, most nights he stays out with the other street drinkers.

Tim can't get used to having a place of his own.

You opened it. You'd already done it.

His support worker, Tom, catches up with him and wants to know

why he's missed a meeting about his health centre appointments.

And as well, on Friday,

we kind of did make a few arrangements as well, didn't we?

-To do a few things.

-Yes.

-And they're pretty important.

-I need to.

We didn't see the nurse.

You didn't go and see the nurse on Friday.

I got an injection there, man.

-I know you got the injection on Monday.

-Oh, and I hate them.

If you need to go off like you did, Tim, it doesn't matter either,

-does it?

-Yeah, but I have to tell people about it.

Yeah, I would like you to let me

know that you're going to go on a little journey or whatever.

-Just so we know where you are.

-I walk the streets, I don't mind that.

-But not sleeping on the streets.

-Yeah, but come back here.

Come back here, just to have a safe night's sleep.

-I'll see you later on.

-I'll see you later on.

-If not, I'll see you at quarter past eight in the morning.

-OK.

-See you later.

-Take care.

Andy continues to hit the bottle.

After he walked out of rehab in Rotherham,

he lived on the streets there and he had run-ins with the law.

The police paid for me to come back here.

The police in Rotherham paid for me

to come back to Swansea...they did.

115 quid.

Six days I've been back in Swansea, six days.

-What's it been like?

-Feel shit!

Yes, all right, I'm under the influence.

I am a bit drunk. I'm back to square one, like I used to be.

For the first time, I get a sense that he regrets quitting rehab.

Am I doing something really wrong? I mean, or...am I just being who I am?

I haven't got a clue. I don't know.

-Not a very nice feeling.

-And that man there...

..knows I'm in bits!

Yes, he is.

I can understand, I know the way he feels but...

It's an awful feeling...

..to feel the way he's feeling now.

Come on!

We're staying here, we're staying here, we're staying here.

No, we're going into the flat.

But before Tim can take Andy back to his flat, there is

a small matter of a lost door key.

It's been a while, has it?

-OK, well, I'll let you in now.

-Quite embarrassed.

So, one of the support workers has to let them in.

There you are, right.

-Thank you very much.

-All right?

-There you are.

-Thank you.

Tim's not allowed overnight guests but Andy stayed over

and the consequences were disastrous.

In the early hours, the residents were

awoken by the sound of a fire alarm and smoke coming from Tim's room.

A pizza box had been set alight and the fire brigade were called.

The fire was brought quickly under control.

It was an isolated incident which Andy regrets.

I was that drunk and I always do stupid things.

I just sort of went too far, I think.

It could have been a lot worse.

The whole place could have gone up. I'd be in jail, then, for arson.

I should have got arrested really but I never,

so...it was a very stupid thing to do.

And I still do feel bad about it.

The incident cost Tim dearly.

Say sorry.

It was so serious they had no alternative but to evict him,

even though Tim is ill and badly needs to be indoors.

He blames Andy for the loss of his flat.

He got me, being quite honest and truthful,

kicked out of my room.

My TV, my digibox...

and you know, ye seen it.

With nowhere to go, Tim is philosophical

and with winter on its way, sleeping rough becomes ever tougher.

He knows that one of these nights he may never see the day break.

I just...

I bless myself every night

and I say prayers to my family.

But when it's going to happen, I can't stop it. I can not stop it!

But there are consequences for Andy as well.

He will find it difficult to get a place in a hostel,

so he's teamed up with Barry.

With the winter weather beginning to bite,

they're desperate to get out of the cold.

So now they're trying to get a private rented property

and they're off to view a place.

Barry's happy to take anything.

I don't care, I don't really want to see it, I just want to sign for it.

What do you mean, you just want to sign for it?

We want to get off the street.

Obviously, in this weather you can see it.

It's not fucking the best of weathers.

And it doesn't really matter, if it's warm and dry

and it's going to have electric in and everything, I can charge my phone up.

Cold, it's been cold.

This is the worst winter in four years.

It's a mile out of town, which is useful cos it would deter

many of the city-based drinkers from inviting themselves over.

Then we can come back, pick our feet up, put some telly on,

put the digibox on.

THEY LAUGH

I'm here to show you your property.

They meet the agent.

All right, I'll show you now, yes?

Come on, let's go.

It turns out to be a nice two-bedroom house.

They can afford it because, unusually,

this landlord isn't asking for an up-front bond.

Oh, I want the front bedroom, I told you that, right?

-Good?

-Yeah, very good, nice.

-Can I ask you a question?

-Yes, you can.

With the garden, we want to have a pet - are we allowed pets here?

-I'll have to find out.

-Can you find that out?

-Yes.

The rent of over £700 per month will be paid to the landlord

directly from Andy and Barry's housing benefit.

Now, they're desperate to move in.

Would you be able to let us move in tomorrow instead of leaving us on the street?

We're going to get somebody to clean it up.

-Can't you pay us to clean it up?

-No, we'd rather clean it up.

It's going to cost somebody to clean it up, yeah, we are quite happy to do it.

-But we know with all our customers, we want you to be happy.

-We will be happy.

But it's not fair to clean for someone

and then we don't clean for you.

-It's nice for you to come in and the place is nice.

-OK, yes.

You'll like it then, and then after we're just going to sign

the paperwork and we can do it when you move in.

-Thank you.

-OK, you're welcome. Now, I'll lock the door.

It seems they've got the place

but are disappointed they can't move in just yet.

So, it's back to the streets.

Returning to Swansea for a third time,

we'd seen how addiction to alcohol ruled the lives of many with nowhere

to go and how it's exceptionally difficult to escape its grip,

especially for those who have no choice but to live on the streets.

Next time on Return To The Streets,

we re-meet Tracy - back in 2011, she was at rock bottom.

Right, you didn't get the bed today.

Now, two years later, she's transformed...

There's the new me. The old me has gone, here I am.

..and there's yet another delay,

so Andy and Barry are still out in the cold.

It's not very nice for someone to give you false hopes, especially...

A dream, isn't it?

You light up a dream and then you let that dream go past,

it's devastating, really, innit?