Photo-a-Day  (Sunday, 15th December, 2024)

It's a great pity that our new leaders will never see this photo....charity begins at home as the old saying goes.
Well done Mick , it shows we are not all snug warm In our beds at night.

This is what a long period of a tory government seems to produce. Homelessness was very bad under Thatcher and was substantially resolved unde new labour only for it to come back with a vengeance again. Each and every town in the country is the same.

A sad state of affairs. we have our regulars in Plymouth. one young couple set up a double mattress outside a shop like your photo. They had pillows and duvets, then one day I walked past and they had added a bedside cabinet and a vase of flowers. Then they disappeared. I hope they have found a better home

Telling me what has this great britain come to the last goverment and these retards care for other people from other countries than our own by the way i am talking about the genuine ones who are not drug related.

A bit ironic really to see those bags outside an organisation “supporting
Communities with the cost of living”.

It is a pity that many homeless simply won't be helped, they seem to prefer a life without responsibility.

This is a subject that makes my blood boil. Their everywhere making Towns and Cities very untidy. Our Town Wigan and Leigh have been invaded by migrants in recent months and nobody in power seems to do anything about it.
We are indeed full and its an alarming serious situation. This channel crossing is again on the increase of illegal migrants, Britain is only a small Country and simply we have no room. Where full. This Labour Government is failing with channel crossing too after all they preach about it. What happened with the rowanda scheme. Hotels are costing tax payers millions each month to house them, and people who live near these hotels are very unhappy and scared. The Summer riots were not the answer and the preparatrators deserve their prison centances of up to 10 years.

Don't feed them and they'll go away. Leigh Tesco is full of them.

I agree with Freddie, I don’t know what each individual has gone through in their upbringing or circumstances but it is sad to see in this day and age.
In the 50’s we had Common Lodging Houses for these unfortunates to sleep in.
Don’t know what the answer is to get them out of what seems to me a life of abject misery and maybe they don’t want it. But who am I to judge.

Freddie, that's because they don't want any help, they don't want to work or even have a wash. They like this lifestyle no matter what they say to reporters.

My heart goes out to the genuine homeless, but some won't be helped. It was in The Wigan Observer last Winter that The Brick Charity in Wigan had kitted out a man with a good overcoat, a hat, and good solid boots and when they saw him next day he had sold them. In Lytham last year there were loads of people in shop doorways covered in sleeping bags but they were all talking on mobile phones.....how do they afford them? But I am truly sorry for those that have lost their homes through genuine ill-luck and who would be willing to accept a job. But as Freddie says, some just prefer a life without responsibility. I feel sorry for the homeless animals in the freezing Winter weather....they would willingly accept help but they can't ask for it; they have no voice and no choice.

so Michael your wife has at long last told you to get on your bike and never darken the door to Byrne Tower ever again

Every town has homeless people who need help but there are professional homeless/beggars who sponge off the public for money for drugs/ale and go to their cosy flats every night

What a life, God help them when it goes below freezing..there but for the grace of God.

Its so sad to see these people living in these conditions in to days society none of these goverments have helped our own people some of them are really genuine homelesness people lost there houses or even got mental health issues brought on by no help or not there own faults nobody seems to care anymore what has become of our country.

He had picked a nice bright Christmasy spot, but I wouldn't want to be bedding down next to all that discarded chewing gum.

Great photo Mick.
Some poor souls are camera shy.
That pile looks cleaner than the one that could be seen on the Street near Wigan infirmary recently.

Peace on earth to all men and women, including the poor homeless souls of Wigan.
Some young folk hang around Manchester, they board the train together at the end of a hard days begging, and can be seen getting off the train at Atherton station to walk.. back to their homes!
Don't worry if you have no pound coins, some of them even have a machine to swipe your card.
Another older, grey bearded soul has been moved on from the front of a certain supermarket in another part of the borough. He now sits in the next street waiting for folk to cut through to Tesco. Twice a day he converts his coin into folding stuff, courtesy of a local takeaway owner. He informs the would be poor soul, is taking more money than the daft folk tossing their hard earned into his hat every day, and he's not homeless either. He lives in a local house of multiple occupancy.

No doubt some are genuine, desperate cases in need. Returning to chuck them a butty and hot drink is very charitable. Poor homeless soul or not. Stumping up to feed a drug addiction is a choice for each individual to make.

Spare some change mate? .. Er Nope!

All the best. .

It’s their life Freddie, they are entitled to live it has they please.
The old Victorian values of work ‘til you drop and get your reward in the next life no longer apply.
Nowadays you can work ‘til you drop and end up with nothing but chronic ill health and a poverty stricken old age.
Who’s to say they are wrong and we are right.
No matter which road you choose to travel the end of your journey will always be the same.

It’s a blight on the country and will get even worse. Foreigners are better treated in the interim period than our own and if they do get permission to stay it’s mainly unskilled work and low paid. I blame a lot on the way industry has shifted to other countries leaving hardly anything much produced in this country. Everything our generation did has been eaten away from the 80’s onwards. That’s my thoughts on it. It’s incomprehensible what has been done here with successive governments. There are more people living on benefits than there’s ever been. The worst evil is the drugs. There was a time if you didn’t work you got nothing. Even sick pay wasn’t guaranteed and that was a pittance if you did get it and not from your employer.

Yes Irene Roberts i partly agree with you how do some homeless people afford mobile phones and a matter imfact were do they charge them up for electricity, some of them have got homes but pretending to be homeless so they can try and make money and by taking it out of the mouths of the ones who are genuine.

“Are there no poor laws in force?”, “Are there no workhouses?”. Scrooge is alive and well and living in Wigan and district. Bah! Humbug I say!

Anyone who thinks that living on the street is an easy way to live can get down there and join them any time they like.
We only get one life and it is up to each of us to decide what we choose to do with it. If you don’t like what some people decide to do then don’t give them any money!, but don’t criticise people who do give money.

I don't think camping outside of the Debenhams store when I worked there would be allowed, our manager, Mr Bartholomew would have them speedily moved on.

T,D,....I think I know who the man is who sits by a certain Tesco Supermarket every day. DTease, I can see your point of view, but it is annoying when people who HAVE a home use begging as a way of making a living and return to their homes at night, leaving truly homeless people to face the cold nights with no shelter. So how kind and compassionate people are, no-one afford to give money to every homeless person they pass in the street, but there is often no visual distinction between the genuine homeless and those who are faking it.
The latter are just lazy, workshy people taking human kindness away from those who TRULY have nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat, and I hate to see the kindness of people who really want to help being abused by them. Sorry.

To see who the genuine homeless are, look around the town at night or early morning when all the shops have closed, and all the beggars have gone home to their warm cosy flats

It’s a far harsher life on the streets for the genuine ones or anybody than clocking on in a factory on a production line (if there are factories still producing) - it just doesn’t make sense to me.
For the last three weeks going in Sainsbury's there’s been a till short - taken away by stealth - as if we won’t notice! There’s just two left for the die-hard pensioners who won’t give in with queues a mile long! So that’s three jobs gone with that action. I would love to know where those girls have gone who worked on the tills. Moral of the story is jobs are not as plentiful as they used to be. That’s not counting all the stores that have closed their doors. It’s a robotic world that we live in and some souls have lost their way (even if they have a phone). Not counting those who want to live that life. Is it any wonder that shop lifting is even more rife than it’s ever been. Plus even if they got a job they won’t earn enough to buy their own homes or afford the rent on one especially today. It’s nothing short of hopeless for some. Even the ones who do work for a living can’t get on the ladder to own their own home. The outlook is nothing short of bleak.

My thoughts are that to a degree , many of the problems that currently afflict this country are down to the fact that over the years we’ve tended to adopt the American pattern of doing things .

America has been a throwaway society for many years … just as this country has now become . Have you tried getting anything repaired lately ? … it’s cheaper to buy new .

The NHS refuses to repair anything as well .
Don’t bother spending ten minutes fixing it , just lob it in the skip . NHS funding is unlimited after all .

I’m guessing most people never get to see the amount of NHS stuff that turns up in scrapyards . Of course , the fund managers will be able to provide a valid reason why .

Homelessness is also widespread in the U.S . the world’s richest country … allegedly .

Drug abuse is rife in many of their cities ; and getting worse , ( Just type tranq in Philadelphia into your device ) … despite the fact that they’ve been battling the problem for half a century or more , using methods that have obviously proved to be ineffective .
Methods that we are currently copying despite a lesson not learned .

Privatisation in the U.K .
Guess where that idea originated .
Privatisation means ultimately that the wealthy people get richer whilst the less well off become even less well off .

The electorate in this country tend to vote for whichever party promises tax cuts , seemingly oblivious to the fact that taxes , including death duties ,
benefit everyone in the long run . ( or at least that’s what should happen in a perfect world ) .

I just happen own my own home and moreover it’s mortgage free .
Now there may well have been an element of luck involved there but I didn’t win it at the roulette tables . It was down to many years of long days of hard work .

I guess the lucky part was that I managed to get my foot on the property ladder while there was still work to be had in this country before Thatcher’s mob annihilated the manufacturing base that we once had and we all became tories and got jobs on the till in Asda .

I’m deviating somewhat here from kipping in shop doorways , but I believe all these things are contributary factors to our current plight … and many more reasons besides .

The answer to the problem isn’t simple , it never is , and anyone that thinks it is simple is precisely that … Simple .

It’s simple, if you don’t believe that they are genuine then don’t give them anything, but don’t criticise people who do believe they are genuine and do give them something.

Dear DTeaser Scrooge.

Some of us are suffering from Rayner & Reeves this festive season, and many will be taking to the streets in chase of the two ugly sisters soon enough, if only to keep warm.
Please confirm if your Ebenezer will allow Bob Cratchit to join Mr & Mrs Merrywinkle, Mrs Roberts, the venerable Mrs chopper, and I for a carol singing fund raiser, at the Wigin workhouse on Christmas eve.
Ps...please send young Cratchit wi o scuttle o coal, as we've no allowance and the fire is slowly dieing.

I think "Miss Prim Anpropper" is meant to be ME, ladies and gentlemen of Wigan World.....I assure you it isn't. Someone is taking the Mick and must think I came down in the last shower!

Have to say Veebs , I agree with every word in your post . I’ve said pretty much the same thing in mine which has yet to appear .

Oh wait … that ‘s probably the one there .
^^^^^

It infuriates me that we send foreign aid to other countries when this country is becoming more like a third world country with beggars in every town. Money that should be spent here.
It doesn’t help with the three bird brains at the helm. Come to think of it they sound like robots waffling away without answering any questions put to them.
They are oblivious to the hardship they have heaped on ordinary folk. We are in for a bumpy ride for another 4 slow dragging years.

Ozy' I've just had a read of your browser link 'Tranq in Philadelphia' and quite an eye opener, I've heard the term zombie drugs but those veterinarian drugs that they are abusing actually make them end up looking like zombies with their rotting flesh, no doubt it is already here and being sold on the streets, what a sight to be awaiting us in the A&E waiting areas, and also the smell too.

There were some obvious rough sleepers who I did see on occasions at Wigan Tesco in the evenings, the security man would make them a hot drink and apparently they would also be given the sandwiches that have been left in the chiller, I did ask them about The Brick and they said more often than not they and many others always got turned away, which surprised me.

Fair comment, DTease. xx

Don’t call us T.D. We’ll call you.

Try not to be too hard on the present government Veebs .
I realise they’ve made themselves unpopular from the get go , but at least give them a chance eh ? … it’s still early days and they’ve been left with more than a cartload of brown smelly stuff to deal with I think you’ll agree .

From a personality viewpoint , none of them light my fire , but the job of a government is to govern , although throwing public money away on overpriced A4 folders , be they leather or otherwise doesn’t do a great deal to instill confidence does it ?

It must surely be apparent though
that I agree wholeheartedly with DTease .

All ( or at least the majority ) of politicians are a bunch of self serving total ******* .
I spent 50 years as a wagon driver and as a consequence tend to use profanities more than is recommended in polite company … hence the asterisks … just feel free to insert whatever blasphemous adjective you may think appropriate .

But seriously , five years isn’t a long time in politics and I’m not expecting anything to change for the better in my time . I hope it will improve in your grandson’s time , although I’m obliged to admit that I’m not optimistic .

Tell him to read up on Canada and Australia , as I don’t believe refugees from the African continent go to either of those countries in rubber dinghies .

Oops ! That’s torn it !
That’s me going down for a 30 month stretch .

T.D. is right

They’re not fit for purpose Ozy. I don’t need a glass ball to forecast the future just the feeling of foreboding from those at the top. They are winging it especially the Deputy ‘dawg’! Those two remind me of nodding dogs behind him at PM’s questions. Nobody will convince me otherwise. They’re out of their depths ..

Ps if things get better I’ll plant fog in mi brown slop stone instead of alpine plants!

Their lives are a mystery,
they make it their career.
In the single files of history
They fall and disappear.
Swearing they'll get even
with all those other creeps,
Philistines and Heathens,
they violently sleep
or steal from cigarette machines,
just for the change,
to get back to where they've been,
a doorway in the rain.
Back in the confession box,
back in the slums,
desire burns like chicken pox
underneath the thumbs.
A refugee from purgatory
wears a crown of thorns,
turns out she's a gringo
of hard circumstance.
Limbo Baby, Limbo,
they wanna see you dance.
Take the tradesman's entrance,
take it out on a tramp,
every bloody sentence
complains about the damp.
The only girl is a faint cry
in this garden of cement,
wait until the paint dries,
it's a big event.
Look through heaven's windows
with their opalescent panes,
Limbo Baby, Limbo,
down the boulevard of shame.
Saint Margaret dies intact,
hardly seems alert,
her stone gaze denies the fact
her face hurts.
The extra legal image,
the cold cream skin,
the regal gimicks
do you in.
Look through heaven's windows,
you see the powder blue veil,
the cover girl of limbo
the sweetheart of the jail.
Gypsy babies hop-scotch
outside the silver gates,
the witch doctor's wristwatch
is stuck at five-to-eight.
A bad break, a slight ache,
is every ones compaint.
Flesh flakes like angel cake
from mug-shots of the saints.
One fell from a window
and was never seen again
'til he turned up in limbo
in a doorway in the rain.
A hero rides to heaven,
the public only rot,
for a fraction of forever
in a designated spot.
Eternally paralysed
in a morbid orbit shift,
halfway to paradise,
stuck in the lift.
Some smart crackin' bimbo says,
"you can't be employed",
then sends you off to limbo
on the stairway to a void

If you aren’t receiving the winter fuel allowance T.D . then that would suggest to me that you aren’t elegible to receive it , which in turn would also suggest that your disposable income exceeds 16,000 pounds sterling .
( not my figures ) .

If in fact that is the case then I fail to see a problem with keeping warm .

Surely a bloke with 16 grand stashed away can find a means of staying warm ?

And there’s part of this country’s problem … right there .
Every bugger wants every meanderous thing for buggerall .

Every pound’s a bloody prisoner to some folk’s thinking … and that’s what every government is up against , not only this shower .

Veronica i agree with you its true these lot are not fit to run this country but there again everybody knew it all voting them clowns in i thought that when they was in the last time everybody knew what they were like everybody deserves what they are going to get with these dafties the country is going to get grinded down an we are going to have no jobs no money everything is being taken from us so good luck to everyone who voted for them i just dont know how all of them could have been so thick in the first place thinking that they were going to change they are still keeping the tories policies they have nor ever can run this country.

For personal reasons, the word "Limbo" upsets me, but you weren't to know that, John Cooper Clarke.

Where has she gone? Where is the Veronica with the sense of humour that we all know and love?
This is what they do to you Veronica, they wheedle their way into your very soul and you end up saying things that you wouldn’t normally say. None of them are worth it Veronica. They are not your friend, none of them. They only care about them and theirs, not you and yours
Do the thing that hurts them most Veronica. IGNORE THEM AND DO YOUR OWN THING.

I promise you the Veronica we know and love is still there, DTease, and she still has her sense of humour.....we have a lot of laughs, I promise you. There are just things that she feels very strongly about. She is a lovely lady and we BOTH enjoy your normal banter....in fact you yourself don't sound as you normally do, DTease .....I think everyone has just got a bit "up in arms" over this post.

Where’s mi fiddle?
Was it Nero who fiddled when Rome burned?
That’s it then it’s a closed shop…“Suck it up’’ is the new slogan.
Merry Christmas to All.

.
Interesting financial theory based on miscalculated guesswork. Cold fact .OZY. It's a case of you not being privvy to the facts, the reason for your miserable failure on this occasion.


Scrooge's,, I have no mobile for you to 'call'. No problem and I beg never to have one forced upon me.

Under the vagrancy act of 1826 beggars can still be arrested. Today the fine is up to a thousand quid. Would somone like to suggest there is a problem to the boys in blue and go persue it? Meanwhile scamming 'buggers' wbo go begging on the streets are allowed to get away with all donations.. tax free.

Sounds like Ozy hit a nerve.

Ozy would make a better Chancellor than Rachel from Accounts..

Veronica is angry ‘cos she can’t solve the riddle
“Now where the ‘eck did I put mi fiddle”
“I need it ter play while the World is on fire”
“And that will show everyone that Starmer’s a liar”
“So if you have my fiddle please return it to me”
“So i can play it and play it and set the World free”

Only joking Veronica, please don’t shout at me.

As if I would Dtease you light up everybody’s day. I could allus use one of them scrubbing boards our mams used to use with the dolly tubs! Singing a song
I don’t want to set the world on fire …I just want to make a flame in your heart…
.eeh give me the old songs any day.

Now that's more like you, DTease.....you didn't sound yourself at all in the earlier comment and I hoped all was okay with you. Veronica will love that rhyme!