Issue 72 / November 2016

Last year we published an article highlighting the ongoing
issue of homelessness in Britain focusing on Liverpool,
which has one of the highest homelessness rates outside
of the capital, with recent government statistics showing that
hundreds are sleeping rough on our streets each night. We are
currently way beyond the national average for homelessness.
One of the main points raised in that issue (Issue 61, Dec
2015/Jan 2016) was that the local music and arts communities
appeared to be doing more to ease the growing problem than
the government, through organisations such as Hopefest and
We Shall Overcome, alongside independent support from the
likes of the invaluable Whitechapel Centre. Despite the work
of these groups, evidence suggests that the problem does
not seem to be going away, as any trip into the city centre will
immediately reveal. In revisiting that article we will see if the
situation has improved or not, and by speaking to some of the
people involved in helping the homeless find out
what still needs to be done,
and what you can do to help.
Bold Street, that great multicultural
boulevard of food, drink
and arts, is blooming and, in
recent years, despite intense
austerity, the thoroughfare has
seen a rise in bistros, cafes, bars
and alternative shops. Visitors to
the city cannot help but be stunned
by the range of international cuisine
on offer, and in the evening the glow
from each establishment appears
warm and inviting. It doesn’t take
long, however, to see the cracks, for
in the doorways in between lie
the stories of thousands of
broken lives. Huddled
in sleeping bags
and
newspaper
beneath
blankets live
Liverpool’s
homeless.
To many,
this is a
royal
pain in the behind – no-one likes to be asked for money, it is
awkward and ultimately depressing and how many of us have
harboured thoughts like, “If I give to one then I’ll have to give to
them all” or “If I give them money, they will only go and spend
it on drugs”?
It’s an all-too-easy way of ignoring the issue, but behind those
worn faces are people and, in most cases, it’s not ‘their fault’: one
instance of bad luck, a bout of bad health or a breakdown in the
family can be the one step away from living in a shop doorway.
Honestly, we don’t know how near most of us are from this often
sudden descent into despair.
One person who knows from experience what it is like to
find himself homeless and who is currently playing his part in
helping others is Bernie Connor. A constant figure
on the Liverpool music scene
since
the days of Eric’s,
Cream and beyond, Connor is proactive
when it comes to raising awareness and money for issues
close to his heart. As I enter Buyers Club during Connor’s Lunatic
Fringe event, I find him in his usual high spirits. The event is to
raise money for local food banks, and the admission price can
be either monetary or a bag of non-perishable foods. “It’s just
like punk,” Connor shouts pointing towards the band on stage,
describing how there’s no point sitting around but to get up
and do it. “Someone has to.”
“What we are doing is ostensibly a benefit for food
banks,” Connor tells me later on. “The idea
for the food bank benefit was the idea of
Jack Greene, lead singer in The Probes. He
thought it would be good idea as they’d done a
similar thing the year before and for obvious
reasons, I picked it up and ran with it.”
Connor’s intentions run deeper
than this, however, and he
has an understanding of
the people he is aiming to
help. “The challenge is
mighty. I’m not
ever going to
pretend I can put myself in a homeless person’s shoes. My own
experiences from having nowhere to live, due to a breakdown
in a relationship, were horrendous, and I had a network of
well-meaning friends and colleagues who were looking out
for me. I’m perfectly aware that most people don’t have that
network of support; in fact, I would go as far as guessing that
most homeless people have no support at all. Apply that to
those who are drug and alcohol afflicted and beset by clinical
depression – surely one of THE main symptoms of homelessness
and poverty – and the situation becomes clearly worse. Where
do you find the space to even think about your plight if you have
more pressing items to deal with?”
MUSICIANS
AGAINST
HOMELESSNESS
Words: Del Pike / @del_pike
Illustration: Tommy Graham /
tommygrahamart.com
Photography: Nata Moraru
This recognition of the fact that
depression is a major factor in individuals
becoming lost on the streets is vital to
the common understanding of the public,
as the plight of people left homeless is
often overlooked as simply laziness and
a reluctance to get a job. Depression
remains one of the most criminally
misunderstood human conditions;
Connor is clearly aware that this
situation is not improving. “I think [it]
gets worse every year. Poverty and
chronic housing shortage seem to
be mainstays of 21st-century British
society. There’s been a reluctance to
look these pertinent subjects in the
eye for many years.”
Looking at individual case studies provides an almost
Dickensian feel to life in this supposedly forward-thinking city.
Speaking to a homeless
guy on a wet Saturday
afternoon on Slater
Street, I realised how
diabolical life can
be. This particular
gentleman was in
a wheelchair and
clearly
finding
it difficult to
manoeuvre
around
the
hustle and bustle
of shoppers and
early-afternoon
revellers.