Depressing Bridge

marko

A fundraiser for The Single Homeless Project seems like an excellent choice.

As an aside, here's a tale of three charities.

One directly helps homeless people under the SGR bridge.

http://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=287779&subid=0

It spends almost all of its voluntary income helping these people and others like it.

The second runs a prominent charity shop locally.

http://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1082947&subid=0

It claims it does a lots of campaigning, which involves a lot of national press advertising campaigns. It spends 62% of its income helping homeless people - and most of the rest on fundraising - last year £13.5m.

The third has helped people I know, and is does similar things to the other two. It has the highest voluntary income of the three.

http://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1149085&subid=0

It spends about 3.5% of its voluntary income on fundraising, and is clearly very successful at what it does.

Ali

It is outrageous that this is going on. Are we not the 5 the biggest economy soon to be 6 the or 7th. Time to pay more taxes folk's.

http://islingtontribune.com/article/after-tent-fire-calls-for-action-to-prevent-homeless-deaths-in-winter

Not sure how much of this is mental health, drugs etc. It will may stop under the bridge once the Wells Terrace entrance to the tube reopens as there will be no footfall. I would also think who ever runs the shopping centre will ensure it doesn't happen as I suspect some of the new entrance will be not publice space just like at the O2 and Kings Cross. It will just move the issue somewhere else

miss annie

None of it will be public space will it? I imagine Camden and Wood Green will be the next stops. The stations between here and those two are not busy enough for rough sleepers to make money or do business.

gardener-joe

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HolbornFox

There is a photo from the bridge in the Grauniad today.

The cause of the homeless crisis is the amazing ability of this country to divide and conquer everyone and everything for profit.

I have to say though if i was working in a low paid job and then giving all of my wages to someone to live in a bedsit \ shed \ sub-let shithole i would invest in some warm clothes and make myself 'unintentionally homeless' to obtain a council flat, I have met several people who are doing this already.

When i was made homeless as a teenager there was no help, the council gave me a list of night shelters and sent me on my way.

gardener-joe

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Ali

https://www.streetlink.org.uk

miss annie

Been cleared again this morning. The clearing notices have been up for a while. They clear it every six weeks or so for public health and safety - it's filthy and attracting rats and piled up rubbish is a fire risk.

gardener-joe

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gardener-joe

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miss annie

They don't need to apply to ban begging. Street begging is covered by law and is illegal under the Vagrancy Act. If they ban rough sleeping there you'll see a lot more of it in the park and any high footfall part of SG.

joust

I'm not sure how many people are actually sleeping there. I get the feeling its more for day time footfall begging.
I've been through late at night a lot recently (between midnight and 2am) due to work, and it all been abandoned except for one person on one of the times.

I'd be interested to know what others have seen?

miss annie

I often come home late and see the same. Also often empty late morning early afternoon.

Acording to a family friend who is an undertaker in Islington (and knows everyone), the pitches are for rent - £10 a day. People on bikes go round and collect the cash in the evening at swap over time. I thought they were drug dealers.

krappyrubsnif

Fascinating @MissAnnie

drjones1517

I've walked past a number of times after 2/3 a.m. over the last couple of years and haven't seen anyone there.

_Bee

Yeah, I am curious about how many people actually sleep there. Those sitting on the beds in the morning seem to be different than those sitting there in the afternoon and at night. Not to mention, the food donations - and MONEY - seem to go untouched.

Not saying there isn't a problem, but I am saying that the problem might be different than how it appears.

Ali

Once the new entrance opens in Wells Terrace later this year the foot fall will drop massively so it will be a much less attractive place to do business. I wonder how much of the land at the Well Terrace side in the "new" street is owned by the council or the developer who I suspect will not allow this to happen.

Arkady

Other than the bus station and the existing pavements I'd imagine the answer is 'none'. It's increasingly unusual for development landowners to want their public realm to be adopted by local councils - they want to maintain security and do the maintenance themselves which you can hardly blame them for given the reality of the surrounding streets.

gardener-joe

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marko

What became of the injunction? Earlier this evening all of the begging-pitches were empty, and later on, just one occupied by a regular who's often there, totally out of it.

miss annie

Fullish house this morning at 9.30 but I imagine they'll all be empty at 11am.

CityOfSin

Just seen the new barriers under the bridge. I’m guessing this is deemed a ‘solution’ to the begging issue, that now leaves hundreds of commuters walking down the cycle lane. Wonder how long they plan to keep them up.

marko

Station Place and the bottom half of Stroud Green Road were mercifully clear of all forms of vagrancy this evening.

However, one had just shouldered past me though the wide ticket gate without paying as I left the station. The station assistant said he was powerless to do anything about it and the Police wouldn't arrest them because they are homeless.

So it seems that brazen fare evasion is OK with the as well as begging.

therattle

I saw the barriers, purportedly for fixing the lights (which seems to require an awfully long time), and immediately thought that this was a way of breaking the cycle of clearance and reoccupation. It's a shame I can't use the cycle lane (although I never used it going up SGR anyway due to pedestrians, just down) but I'd rather have that than the shanty town.

Brodiej

Some sensible action, at last. Cyclists can use the road, as they do for most other parts of London.

gardener-joe

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miss annie

Both sides are done. There were two official looking people with clipboards and radios, three rubbish trucks and a team moving the beds out of the way yesterday at about 11am. I think both councils have just had enough.

marko

Workers were pressure-washing the walls as I walked past this evening. And once again, no vagrants in sight - including in the regular spot by the entrance to FP NR station. Seems that there might have been a multi-agency Crackdown?

adrienbe

Councils finally taking some concrete actions. Hopefully the bright lights will help.

Papa

There's a sign claiming it's to do with work on the lights under the bridge.

PS. Oops sorry, saw the Rattle already said that.