Just to let everybody know my pamphlet collection from Tall Lighthouse “Those Who Jump” will be launched on April 8th at 7pm, Poetry Cafe, Betterton Street. Would love to see you there. Free wine and then jumbly drinks later.

If you can’t make it the pamphlet is available online from Tall Lighthouse priced £5.

I’ve been thinking about the comments people have made reguarding the editing process, keeping lines in because other people commend them etc. of course this is really helpful, both letting you know that you are connecting with an audience and giving you that pat on the head feeling that almost gives you a license to continue.

Thanks to everyone for your comments on the last piece. This is a recording featuring some of the ideas from that initial piece. I’m trying to impose narrative but at the moment it’s very loose. Using the interviews i did with the people in the hostel I’ve been linking their lives to fariy stories and having one central character who meets my other chracters when they go to the hostel. It’s very bitty but i think there’s a sort of tone coming through. I’ve noticed that when I’m writing on the computer i’m always changing words and lines, is there a way i can some how show people my changes without having to post every change i do? Like if they could somehow be in my computer and press the un-do button to see how things evolved?

gutted empty

I’ve decided to post the little bits I’ve been writing as i’ve been in residence. Some of these were in a notebook, some text messages that i saved in my draft and some i recorded on my device very late at night when i was on the verge of falling alseep and i would suddenly have a line in my head. They may seem to make no sense at all but I’m hoping to rescue elements and turn them into something new.

Last Tuesday I made an appointment with my local Housing Options Service officers at Copeland Borough Council. I thought about pretending to be homeless but then I felt worried that I might use up some vital resource, so I went along and had a sit down meeting. After a hypothetical discussion of my “homeless” situation, it turned out that they could do nothing to help as I fell short of criteria. I was out on my own.

In all fairness these guys were really nice and one of them is busy beavering away getting me stats, facts and figures. However it really scared me to see how their hands are tied when it comes to assessing cases, basically there are five points that you must fulfill in order for the local authority  be able to house you in an emergency accomodation flat,they are:

* Homeless or threatened with homelessness (in the next 28 days)

* Priority. Are you 16/17, are you pregnant or do you have children

* vulnerability. Drug/alcohol problem, mental illness

*Intentionality. Have you made yourself deliberately homeless, ie not paid rent

* Local connection. If any of you Londonites come up here and say you’re homelss – you ain’t getting a bed!

In my hypothetcial homelessness I fulfilled only two; I was homeless and I had a local connection but I wasn’t classed as vulnerable or a priority. If I were to then go and sleep on a park bench it would be classed as a police matter and i could be moved on. This is known as street homeless. A lot of people also sofa surf at this stage. This is really tiring and awkward as I have discovered and I’m not even doing it for real.

Quite often the local community report people who see sleeping rough ( this is one of the differences when living in a small town compared with a city) and the council are informed of them and they can reassess the situtaion and see if they can do anything more to help.

If they can help they quite often put people into emergency accomodation in the form of a self-contained flat that has basic furnishing such as bed, sofa bed, fridge, cooker, washing facilities. There are only five of these in the local area and demand is high. If all are full the council have an agreement with  some hotels which will then provide a bed for the homeless person. I’m going to visit one of the hotels later on today.

Hey, I’ve been working with the residents of Bakewell House, young people who, for whatever reason, have found that they needed a place in the hostel. There’s a support worker on hand 24/7 to help out with any problems people may have, but other than that the residents are pretty much on their own.

This is a little slide show I put together using pics from the hostels i’ve been visting and a recording one of the residents on the guitar. It’s forst attempt and it’s taken a while for me to get it here, but with Jen’s help I’ve succeeded. The next one will be more structured, I promise, but I quite like the harsh, stark jumpyness of this.

This is a recording of me talking to a girl about how she made a room in the hostel her home.

This is my place

Hello,

is the whole of Britain snowed in apart from Whitehaven? Ha ha WHITEhaven, there’s not a flake in the sky, on the sea or the ground! There was a quick flurry and a pathetic half inch on Monday night but now it’s definately Greyhaven.

It was cold, dark and wet and then it began to snow