Tim's Sleep Out Blog

14 nights but I still don’t know what homelessness is like for women During my fortnight on the streets, several women said to me that if they were to sleep rough there would be, as one woman put it, “an extra layer of vulnerability”. I realised I hadn’t ever considered the risk of a sexual attack. I’ve known men who have been sexually abused whilst rough sleeping, but they seem isolated incidents. I never considered it could happen to me. Women seemed to consider it automatically.  I am uncomfortable writing this blog. A 57-year-old man sharing insights into being female and homeless? The reality is that I’m admitting my ignorance. After 17 years I thought I knew the issues of female homelessness. I probably do but I now realise how little I understand them. I remember an incident of a woman who was nineteen. She came to the project seeking help. Her boyfriend had been arrested. She was alone and said, in the space of an afternoon, three men had offered to ‘protect’ he...

And what if I was really homeless? On Saturday I had my covid vaccine booster. On Sunday I had a headache. It wasn’t terrible but it was persistent and neither paracetamol nor ibuprofen took it away. I ended up dozing on and off in the comfort of my bed or a large armchair. I had dreamt about the armchair when I was on the street.  I had sat on pavements, on park benches, on upright chairs in popular burger chains or in churches. I missed somewhere comfortable to lounge. Towards the end of my fourteen-night sleep out my back ached and my neck was getting stiff. My legs ached too, from all the walking. That’s when I had thought of home and a large comfortable chair. This may seem like a really obvious thing to say, but the street lacks some basic creature comforts. I had a really lovely shower at City Taxis offices during my sleep out. I was very grateful. But it was a work shower. That means you get undressed in the little shower room, shower, dry yourself a...