When I checked out of the Old Golf House Hotel, I said to the receptionist that I had enjoyed my short stay. I also confided in her that I had been anxious about my booking because of negative reviews I had later read on TripAdvisor. I promised to leave a pretty good review.
One of the harsh critics of the hotel had referred to "homeless people" staying there. I wondered what that was all about. At breakfast, I got some answers from one of those guests.
The fellow's name was Kevin and he was around fifty years old. He was short and thin with what I can only describe as a weaselly appearance. With some gentle coaxing I got to know quite a lot about him.
About his broken home, his violent father, his lack of educational achievement, his old drug habits, his run-ins with the police. Memorably he also told me that he had lived in a tent in some woods for the best part of ten years. There was winter cold to contend with, sleepless nights, the business of finding food and aggression from teenage louts.
I asked him if he had ever heard of Bear Grylls, Britain's Chief Scout and allegedly an expert in survival skills. Surprisingly, Kevin had heard of him and he laughed with mirth and a measure of pride when I told him that he undoubtedly knew more about real life survival than Bear Grylls would ever know. But where is the TV survival show that stars Kevin or someone like him? They may not know how to make rope from tree bark or fire from flint but they know how to make it through long winter nights, month after month.
Along with half a dozen other people with desperate housing problems, Kevin had been put in The Old Golf Course Hotel by his local council before being offered a permanent home - namely a flat on a council estate at Birstall south of Leeds. He was going to see it that very morning and was hoping for the best.
He was a gentle soul. Life had dealt him a shitty hand but he wasn't bitter and he was grateful for any help or kindness he had been given. He admitted that staying in the hotel had been like a lovely holiday for him. By the way, he has never been out of Yorkshire his entire life and he laughed when I said, "Well, why would you want to be anywhere else?"
I met him again very briefly when I returned to the hotel around two o'clock to pick up a thermos flask I had absentmindedly left in my room. He was sitting on a low stone wall smoking a cigarette, having returned from viewing the flat he had been offered in Birstall. He said he was pleased with it and thought it would be just right for him. I wished him all the best and said that I hoped he would be happy there. My wallet was also lighter though he never asked for a penny. I just liked the guy.
Kevin lived in a tent for the best part of ten years.
ReplyDeleteThe Conservatives have been in power for twelve years.
Our Prime Minister is a billionaire with properties in London & elsewhere.
Homelessness is now endemic in British society and getting worse.
Benefits cuts, stagnant wages, grim working conditions for many, soaring energy costs.
We hope it works out for Kevin in his new home in Birstall.
Meanwhile ludicrous Liz Truss, our flop top minister, is staging a comeback.
Liz Truss should be in prison for arrogance, squandering £30 billion, bringing Great Britain into disrepute and failing to say sorry for her stupidity.
Delete*Liz Truss met with dark money think tanks during taxpayer funded trip to Washington.*
DeleteUnearthed. Online.
My mind is not given to conspiracy theory.
But the dark money lobby groups really are the Enemy Within.
It will take the next Labour government five years just to patch up our broken society and its victims like Kevin.
I know a brilliant doctor who is leaving her home in the English Midlands for a new life in Australia, because she wants to given her young son a better start.
Even her mother and father think she ought to go though it will break their hearts.
Behind their respectable facade, the Tories have secretly been wrecking this great country. Labour need more than one term to shift the ocean liner of state to a better destination.
DeleteI'm very happy that you had such a nice chat with Kevin and he has accepted the Council flat too. The world now has one less homeless person, (not counting the numbers that became newly homeless in the time it took me to type this)
ReplyDeleteOf course it costs money to live - heating and eating etc.. This will remain a big challenge for Kevin.
DeleteIf you had asked me whether I'd heard of Bear Grylls, the answer would have been no. But now I have, and I agree - real-life survivors face much more in terms of hardships and aversity.
ReplyDeleteKevin's story has not yet ended, but this new chapter looks hopeful.
After Bear Grylls has done his TV survival programmes he goes back to a nice warm house.
DeleteBear Grylls was an elite soldier so I'm thinking he has probably done soe hard yards. He also found his way through some very challenging times in his summit of Mt Everest.
DeleteHaving said that, it's not so soul destroying if it's not every. single. day.
We can be very quick to judge. A couple of times I've chatted to homeless guys and while I can't say I would trust them far, they seemed like quite decent blokes. You're fellow guest was kind that day.
ReplyDeleteThey are part of the human race like everybody else.
DeleteIt's doubtful that Bear Grylls (what sort of name is that!) is aware of the reality of the
ReplyDeleteenforced survival Kevin had to endure. It must be so much easier with a production team and everything staged.
I too, hope that Kevin finds security and peace of mind in his new flat.
I wonder if Bear Grylls has own profitable range of grills... Bear Grills.
DeleteHow do people survive under Tory government, badly is the only word to describe it. I am glad Kevin has found a home, and if you want to see what Britain is really like look at Youtube and the documentaries that line it of people on the breadline. Yes we are back to the 19th century. I cannot believe that Truss has the (insert rude word here) face to try and make a come back.
ReplyDeleteTruss's inability to see her culpability is breathtaking. As the song goes - Sorry seems to be the hardest word. Impossible in Trussworld.
DeleteThere have always been people like Kevin, but one is tempted to make a political comment about the running down of public services to the benefit of the asset-rich. I hope his flat works out. Well done for accepting and talking with him.
ReplyDeleteDepending upon circumstances, any of us might have found ourselves in positions like the one that Kevin is in.
DeleteYP, my comment was going to be exactly what you said in your reply to Tasker.
DeleteCheers Jenny. I would certainly toss you a few coins if you were begging in the street.
DeleteWe meet the most interesting people, when we are open to do so.
ReplyDeleteIt helps if you are on your own.
DeleteI thought Bear Grylls was Australian. I have no idea why. (I don't think I've ever seen him on TV or heard him speak; I've just read about him here and there.) Bravo for getting to the bottom of the "homeless" question with some compassion, unlike that earlier hotel guest.
ReplyDeleteYou might need Bear Grylls in the library to address the ninth grade pillocks.
DeleteYou did a mitzvah. Not the money- the listening, the empathy. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many people from our side of society have ever taken the time to listen to Kevin - but not in an official capacity.
DeleteThank you for making Kevin's day nicer. I can't even imagine how difficult those ten years in a tent must have been. I hope the years ahead will be easier for him. We all need to reach out and help Kevins, (which has reminded me I need to donate to the Red Cross for relief in Turkey and Syria.)
ReplyDeleteWe all should give a little to help the beleaguered people of Turkey and Syria.
DeleteThere are all manner of people. I am glad that Kevin was a nice charactor. Sadly, many homeless have mental illness, and some of those illnesses make them a bit dangerous. I understand that the same can be said of any cohort of people.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point Debby and some homeless people can be understandably angry and resentful.
DeleteIt's good that hotels will take in the homeless. I often hear of hotels housing war refugees but they won't take in the
ReplyDeletehomeless people born here or in Britain. I hate Tory terms like 'affordable housing'. I think there should be an Housing Party. Nothing is more important than a roof over your head. Nice gestureYP.
In wealthy countries like Great Britain, it should be a human right to have a home where you can sleep and keep your things. That should not be too much to expect.
DeleteWhat a lovely encounter. With a man who probably wonders sometimes how he has made it this far in life with the shitty hand he seems to have been dealt. I know that you will think of him often now as you do with others that you have met along your way.
ReplyDeleteYes. I will think of him. It was just the right moment to talk with a guy like that. Such moments do not come along too often.
DeleteI had no idea who Bear Grylls was, so I looked him up. He has a net worth of $25 million dollars, so although he may have camped, he and Kevin have nothing in common. I'm glad Kevin is getting a more permanent roof over his head and thank you for sharing his story with us.
ReplyDeleteBear Grylls is unbearable.
DeleteWe have one of those Bear Grylls types over here too. His name is Cody Lundin and he teaches survival skills in Prescott, Arizona! I suspect he's a jerk.
ReplyDeleteTo find out, perhaps you should sign up for one of his survival courses and spend a week fending for yourself in the desert with nothing but a hunting knife and a Hershey bar,
Delete