NYPD Police Officer’s Random Act of Kindness

This is how we should all be, please take note from this Police officer actions, it’s worth reading and please help me to help the homeless in the Bournemouth, Dorset, UK as today there was a little frost for the first time and there are around 100 people in the Bournemouth area living on the streets.  My personal estimated number, this figure is probably a lot higher probably nearer 200 plus

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/11/29/photo-of-nypd-police-officers-random-act-of-kindness-goes-viral/#more-90865

If you wish to help, please contact me as I need money to buy clothes for the homeless in the form of socks, jumpers, hats, scarfs as well as food at a local centre who feeds these guys twice a week, I am giving up my Christmas Day to help them – what are you doing?

Please donate via paypal to this address  bournemouthhomeless@yahoo.com , please give it as a gift so I do not get the Paypal charges – Sterling or US Dollars

Think of the donation as an extra £10 or $10 christmas present, that will bring a smile to these people faces when they get some warm clothing etc This is priceless and words cannot express it.

Thank you

Michael

p.s. I am not a charity, just a person who has been homeless and know what these guys are going through from 1st hand experience and just want to give back to them.  My blog here explains all if you want to re-read about my experiences and it was not pleasant at time, sleeping out at night, I am grateful for a series of events that got me off the streets before the rain and bad weather started to arrive in the UK.

Common Sense (Humour)

You may have seen this already as it has been circulating in the past, but I think its worth another look at, I do not know who the author was, but that person was spot on in my opinion

Enjoy

An Obituary printed in the London Times – Interesting and sadly rather true.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Photographs for sale

So this is an update to the last entry, as I may be inundated with emails about the potential prices of photographs I am trying to sell to help me get into some proper accommodation and to raise some money for the homeless people of Bournemouth, Dorset area so I can buy them food and clothing.

The photographs can be found at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/waterandwaves

print size                  £ Your Cost                                £ Donation for the homeless

6″ x 4″                     £5 ea                                            £1.50 per print

7″ x 5″                    £ 8 ea                                            £3 per print

A4 – (12″ x 8″)       £ 20 ea                                           £ 6 per print

A3 – (12″ x 18″)    £ 30 ea                                            £ 9 per print

Please note postage is extra

UK £ 3.00, ROW £ 5.00 this is for first class post or airmail

Print finishes is Semi Gloss / Semi Matt depending on the sizes ordered

Payment is via PayPal only at present to bournemouthhomeless@yahoo.com

Other sizes and finishes, etc are available upon request, please contact me for a quotation.  Also electronic usages are available, please contact me for prices.

The copyright of the photographs are copyright Michael Crawford-Hick and are NOT transferable under any circumstances, by buying a print this does not give you any right to make copies in any format and distribute them either for free or charge for them.

Print sizes are approx and may vary, All prints are made to order, I do not hold stock, so they are classed as a custom order and cannot be returned unless damaged in transit, (If this is the case please contact me by email and please keep the packaging as I will require a photograph of the damage to issue a replacement, please do not return the print to me , BUT email me the details).

I will list what I have done with this donation money e.g. purchased clothing, food etc, receipts will be posted where applicable.

Any questions Please contact me via this blog or directly on bournemouthhomeless@yahoo.com

Thank you

Michael

My Interview on Radio Solent (BBC)

Hello all

I have just been interviewed by the BBC about my homeless time in the Bournemouth area , this will be broadcast on Wednesday 17th October on the Julian Clegg Show either 7.20am or 7.40am (subject to confirmation but may not be confirmed here).

It’s my story that I have listed in the blogs etc, as they are going to edit it, to a 2 min 30s interview ish I have no real idea what it will sound like, but they seemed happy with what I told them about life on the streets etc.

So please listen on your radio or via the internet the web site for the BBC is

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001dpqb  if you miss it the BBC you can hear the show again on the IPLAYER, but that’s only available in the UK, I will try and get a podcast that you can download – but not promising this, I will have to wait and see what I can get.

They will hopefully mention this blog and my flickr web page and that link is http://www.flickr.com/photos/waterandwaves

I would like to sell copies of these photographs to benefit the places that provide food, clothing and a lot of TLC to us homeless people, this is where the money and donations should go to and not to some big orgnaisation as say £20 direct to these places will provide food or form example 40 pair of socks or 8 t-shirts etc. ( some of the profits I make will go to buy food and clothing for the homeless via these small places – please see the next blog entry for details)

If you want to donate something please get in touch with me via this blog and we can discuss things, as a lot of these places do not really want the glare of main stream fundraising as they are doing things on a shoe string behind the scenes, but the homeless people know where to go and get food, clothing and TLC etc.

Thank you for your support

regards

Michael

Homeless and how it affected me (conclusion)

So this my summary of being homeless during August and September 2012 in Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

There were a lot of things to thing that I learnt about whilst on the streets, personal; safety, keeping well, getting food, how you interact with other homeless people, plus normal people.  I found out where to get free food, reduced price food and the cheapest place to get a good cup of tea.  I met all kinds of people.  Some OK some not.

It has made me more tolerant of people who are homeless and that I want to do something for them, but what I may set up a charity, / not for profit organisation to try and raise funds for clothes and food, the most basic needs of a human being, but being homeless you are quite often denied these or at least they are hard to get hold of.

I am still in the B&B trying to save hard the money I need to get into some form of proper house / flat and bedsit.  I am working, so the money is coming in but a lot slower than I hoped for.  I am paying my friend back for her the money she spent on a flight ticket home for me.  It’s an uphill struggle when you are on just over the minimum wage.

I still need a laptop (Macbopok pro – 2nd hand OK) and camera (D3200, plus 18-200 VR lens) as I had to sell these to fund myself whilst in Malaysia, I will hopefully get some tax credits soon, and if I time it right I can get that 2nd hand Mac at the back end of November all going well.  The camera will have to wait  but the housing needs are more important that a camera.  A laptop I can use more efficiently, as I can have more time on the internet, as I have some ideas for items to make, promote and sell.  But I do not have enough time at present with only 1 maybe 2 hours before I go to work every day.

The thing that kept me going was my friends, and me wanting to visit them. These friends are in different countries so I need to do a lot of work to get there, it is not going to happen overnight unless I win the lottery, my premium numbers come up or I get a hugh donation to do something with.  I can live in hope of all of these things coming to me when I need them.

For the moment I am trying to give as much as I can to the local food bank for the homeless by buying new clothes for them to give out to the homeless, OK it’s only £10-15 every week or so, but to the homeless people it’s a new pair of socks, t-shirt to keep them warm They welcome anything that is new and clean.  As now the weather is getting wetter and colder here, I need to try and find some waterproof jackets, leggings, shoes etc that can keep them a little dryer when they are walking around the local area.  This way they will not get sick and are not a bigger burden on the health care system as this is already bursting with their current workload.  Also a homeless person would get sick quicker and they do not always want to ask for help, they sometimes shun help, I am not sure why.

Well that is my story of being homeless, yes I could give you a lot more detail and once I have a laptop and a little more time I will put together this with more details and try and sell this book, as there are a lot of people I want to say thank you via this medium without naming to many names direct.

Thank you for reading these posts

Michael

Homeless and how it affected me (Part 6)

Day 22

This evening I was humbled by 2 teenagers, who I had previously spoke to at the weekend, they wondered why I was homeless, and not your usual questions by teenagers I assume they were around 12-14.

But this evening around midnight they came around again and asked questions again and one of them, pulled out 70p from his pocket, that was all the money he currently had and gave it to me, I tried to give it him back as I was earning.  He was not having any of this and left on his bike.  It brought a tear to my eye, that act of kindness, when normally you just get verbal and physical abuse from the “average” teenager well that’s what you hear.  Let’s hope this act, will take him on a path to helping people in his career, as he has started early in life.

Day 23, 24, 25

These days seem to merge into each other of getting up early getting a shower, basic food and going to work, checking emails and sleeping on the streets.

Day 26

Saturday – no work, which is great, but that still produces other things, what to do all day long after the shower at 7.30am, Yes I need to go to check emails, get lunch at a soup kitchen that I know.  But as I got paid today, in am going to get a sleeping bag, I pay £13.99 in a local catalogue shop.  As I need this extra warmth, at nights. I am looking forward to snuggling down into this tonight.

Day 27

Sunday

Again an odd day, no work, so I can relax after the shower in the day centre then after lunch at the day centre is time to leave

So I spent the rest of the day wandering around and trying not to look homeless too much

Day 28

A full work week is promised at work today that means a reasonable amount of money coming in next week; I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to me getting off the streets and into some accommodation, as this is getting me down

I can see how people go downhill via the Drink or Drugs route, as it can be just to block out the endless activity of living on the streets, it is so easy to go and get something – but I resist it as I know where it can end up very fast.

Day 29, 30, 31

Nothing much happened, except that I have survived every night, all I can think of is tomorrow I am going to get a reasonable sum of money in my wages and hopefully the tax rebate will be credited to today’s money.  If so I will get a hotel for at least 4 days as I need a warm place to stay, and look forward to some nice crisp sheets after sleeping on the streets for around 30 days.

Day 32

Yes the money is there, so I book into a B&B for 4 days, what a wonderful feeling, knowing I am sleeping in a bed tonight and not in a deck chair and in a sleeping bag – Phew I am on the way to being OK.

Safe in the knowledge that I have 4 days of luxury, you start to appreciate the small things like having YOUR own shower, toilet and a nice bed.

With the work has now settled down to regular hours and that means I can see myself off the street, even if it’s in a B&B it is better than living on the streets.

The nest post is the conclusion and my thoughts on being homeless

If you would like to get in touch please email me on bournemouthhomeless@yahoo.com and please support the world homeless day on the 10th October – even if you only give a few pounds / dollars / Euros to a homeless charity (the smaller ones would benefit more than the larger ones) that would be great – But don’t forgot I am also raising money for my local homeless people and places that I used to get free food from as well as clothing. So before you go and get that coffee from the shop tomorrow, the price of that coffee could be used to feed the homeless on YOUR local streets – you will not miss the coffee, but the food would be welcomed by the homeless.

Michael

http://www.worldhomelessday.org

Homeless and how it affected me (Part 5)

Day 18

Today is Saturday and that means a trip to the Lansdowne for lunch that is run by wonderful people and today I am getting a hot meal at lunch time – Horary, but first it’s over to the day centre for a shower, shave and a little breakfast.  We get told to leave at 8.30 as usual and I wait around the local area for 10.30 as it’s a Saturday, I have no work today, so no preparations need to be done.  I wait the long 2 hours before we are allowed back in as this morning I am staying in the day centre, as I want some comfy chair to sit on and not the concrete floor or deck chair, and while I am there I can get my washing done for 50p.  Just before 12noon, I head towards to the place for lunch, plenty of Tea, coffee, food and cakes which I take for later and will do me for the rest of the day.

After Lunch, I head towards the library to check emails etc and to again sit on comfy chairs etc.  MY mind is wandering thinking about sleeping on the streets tonight, but there is nothing else I can sort out, all the agencies are closed and are still failing my HRT test, OH what to do, luckily it’s a nice and warm day.  Early evening I walk from the town centre to my sleeping place, but as it is a Saturday night there are lots of people around, so cannot even think of sleeping still at least 11.30pm.

Day 19

Sunday morning, nice and sunny at 5.30am!! Cannot get back to any sleep if you can call it that, so pack up my things and start a slow walk to the day centre for breakfast & shower etc.  Today is going to be an odd day, nothing to do as the library is not open, so you have to amuse yourself and not look homeless with this bag that I am carrying with me.

Today there is a lunch at the day centre for those with a voucher from street services, it’s typically chips, bean and something, but it’s a hot meal and I need all the calories I can get whilst sleeping on the street.

The rest of the day is spent wandering the town trying to find somewhere quiet to sit and do nothing, not easy on a hot sunny day in the height of summer with all the tourists around.

I head towards Alum Chine at around 8pm, still lots of people around at 11pm so no early night for me today.

Day 20

The people at work have no idea that I am homeless, when they ask where I live I say Alum Chine, I do not invite them round, or give any more details to what I am currently doing.  I go to work with a medium bag that can pass as a lunch bag but only just – I am getting a few comments about why I am carrying a large ish bag, compared to them.  I skirt the question and come up with an answer that keeps them at bay for now.
We stop work at 4pm, we are called around the supervisor’s desk and told we have to go home, what only 1.5 hours into an 8 hr shift – not on!!.  They say there is not enough room in the warehouse for the stuff we are making, well that’s not our fault, but we lose 6.5 hrs pay because of this.

Because of this short work day I was able to get an evening meal at another soup run at a local church, this sets me up for the disappointment of not working a full shift.

Day 21

I wake throughout the night, probably down to the surrounding and stress of it all sleeping rough that is, and I am eventually fully awake at 6am, so it’s time to hide the deck chair and head towards the night shelter for some breakfast, a shower and a change of clothes.  I am pleased that it’s still the summer and is currently dry last night.  But it still goes cold at night, I must find a way of keeping warmer than I am presently.

Once the day centre has kicked us out at 8.30am as they are only allowed us homeless people to be there between 7.30 and 8.30am and then 10.30-13.30.  I head over to the library all nice and fresh, and do not look as a homeless person.

The story will continue on my next blog over the next few days, hopefully I can get to an internet cafe tomorrow morning before I go to work and write some more for you. If you would like to get in touch please email me on bournemouthhomeless@yahoo.com and please support the world homeless day on the 10th October – even if you only give a few pounds / dollars / Euros to a homeless charity (the smaller ones would benefit more than the larger ones) that would be great – But don’t forgot I am also raising money for my local homeless people and places that I used to get free food from as well as clothing. So before you go and get that coffee from the shop tomorrow, the price of that coffee could be used to feed the homeless on YOUR local streets – you will not miss the coffee, but the food would be welcomed by the homeless.

Thank you for reading and watch out for the next post.

Michael

http://www.worldhomelessday.org