Running for rough sleepers: Make a lifestyle choice to help those less fortunate than you
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman may be unimpressed, but on Saturday a group of runners will be raising money to help rough sleepers
In November last year, no less a figure than the then British Home Secretary told the country that rough sleeping is a “lifestyle choice”.
Suella Braverman, who was later sacked following a controversial article in The Times when she condemned both protestors at pro-Gaza rallies and those policing them, tweeted “we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice”.
She accused rough sleepers of “aggressively begging, stealing, taking drugs, littering, and blighting our communities”.
Sadly, such ignorant and ill-informed comments, given airtime on this occasion by someone who was then one of Britain’s most senior politicians, are not uncommon.
Those who are sleeping on our streets are suffering. They have been stigmatised time and again. Branding every rough sleeper in such a way is lazy. There is a wide variety of reasons why someone ends up sleeping rough.
We are all just one or two bad events, or missed pay packets, away from living on the streets.
The idea someone would choose to sleep outside, sometimes in freezing or soaking conditions, without basic amenities and with nowhere to store their most precious possessions is insulting. It is also demeaning.
Tell someone enough times that they are useless, a blight on society, an ‘aggressive beggar who steals, takes drugs and litters’ and see what happens. Stripping people of their dignity is not the way to resolve issues of inequality and addiction.
Running for rough sleepers:
That is why the top priority of Northampton rough sleeper charity, Project 16:15, is to embrace the humanity in every person they have the pleasure to serve.
In just two more sleeps time on Saturday, March 23, a group of more than 25 runners will be taking part in a six-hour long event to raise awareness of and funds for the charity, which was formed in 2017 just in time to help those facing up to the notorious Beast from the East cold snap.
It’s an event Running Tales, along with Step Forward With Lewis and Project 16:15, started last year and hope will continue for many years more.
Many of those taking part have spent the last few months training in the rain, slogging along in horrendous conditions with their bodies aching. We may well be doing the same on Saturday!
But whatever we have faced it is nothing when compared to the plight of rough sleepers.
That plight was brought into sharp perspective this week by the sad death of Martin Petit, known as Titch.
Martin was well-known among the street community and will be much missed. Horribly, he is far from the only rough sleeper who has died in recent years while or after living on Northampton’s streets.
Such sad loss demonstrates why society must do more to help rough sleepers.
A few years ago, the idea of running long distances in all kinds of weather would have been very strange to me. It is vital now for my wellbeing and mental health, as well as in maintaining my fitness and helping keep my body moving.
The plan now is to give a little bit back for those whose very survival is their basic order of the day.
The staggering truth is that life expectancy for rough sleepers is just 47 for men and 43 for women. While living on our streets they have to deal with everything from addiction to abuse on a daily basis.
They are spat at, raped, verbally abused, ignored and dismissed. They are stripped of the dignity they inherently deserve - and the chances in life which so many of us take for granted.
Why would anyone choose that?
Click here to donate to our JustGiving page for the 2024 Project 16:15 Charity Run
Craig Lewis is a Trustee of Project 16:15
The story behind Project 16:15:
Rough sleeper charity, Project 16:15 was formed in late 2017 and had a baptism of ice when the Beast from the East cold snap hit just months later.
The man behind the charity, Stan Robertson, told Running Tales: “It was started to deliver to people what I felt was missing on the streets: dignity, self-respect, value and worth.
“People living on the streets didn’t understand they were worth anything in life, and their lives were focused daily on their situation and their circumstance.
“I wanted to give them a reason to wake up in the morning.”
Stan began delivering bacon rolls, tea and coffee to those living rough in Northampton’s town centre.
“Breakfast time is the most important time of the day,” Stan said. “But we came across greater need and realised people required more than just a hot meal.
“They needed company and conversation, so we started spending more time speaking to people and listening to their stories and letting them be heard.”
Stan told Running Tales that every single rough sleeper he was serving breakfast to back in 2017 is now, happily, in accommodation or, tragically, has died.
“There isn’t anyone left out there now who was out there seven years ago,” he said.
“What happens is people give up. They don’t see a way out of where they are, out of the addiction or the drink, or the poverty circle they are in.
“To me awareness is more important than money.
“We want to educate people, make them aware of the humanity of homelessness. I’ve said many times that there is humanity behind every blanket.”
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