Journalism jobs and news from Holdthefrontpage.co.uk

Regional press news - this story published 27 September 2006

Journalist sleeps rough on the streets as he spends 48 hours homeless

by holdthefrontpage staff

A reporter from the Norwich Evening News spent 48 hours living rough on the streets to get a real picture of the problem of homelessness in the city.

David Powles, (27), left the newsroom with just £5, a sleeping bag and a spare jumper, and then attempted to find a place to sleep and something to eat as if he really was homeless.

His investigation was prompted by a number of calls from people who told the paper they were struggling to find somewhere to sleep because of a lack of hostels and affordable accommodation, and in his effort to find the truth David tried to make his time on the streets as realistic as possible.

He told HoldtheFrontPage: "I went out with only £5 and didn't have anywhere to stay. I wanted to find out, if I was in that situation, how easy it would be to get somewhere to stay, and I found it wasn't easy at all."

David finds somewhere to sleep

For two nights David slept rough, finding 'shelter' on a concrete floor in the entrance to a church. He spent his first day begging and his second day selling the Big Issue.

He also visited Norwich City Council and various organisations that offer help to the homeless - without telling them that he was a reporter - but found himself being passed from pillar to post and at the bottom of numerous waiting lists.

The only money he had to live on was his original £5 and any money he made from begging and selling the Big Issue.

In a diary he kept about his experiences, David said of begging: "I can honestly say it is one of the most degrading and unpleasant experiences you could put yourself through.

"I must have asked around 50 people for change and not one has been willing to help me out. Most cannot even bring themselves to look at or acknowledge me, notably quickening their pace as they see me ahead. A few apologetically decline and one even tells me to 'piss off'."

E-mail this story to a friend. Your name:

Your friend's e-mail: