- [Host] Mark.
- Yeah.
- [Host] we're here in Manchester, United Kingdom.
- Yeah.
- [Host] You're out here sleeping rough.
- Yeah. - Tell me about it.
- What happened, on May 14, 2014,
I come downstairs at eight o'clock.
Me Mum used to shout me at half past seven every morning.
I woke up seeing it was eight o'clock
and I knew something was wrong.
I run straight down, in me boxer shorts
and me Mum was dead in the chair because
for the last four months of her life she had to sit up.
She couldn't lie down 'cause she
had hairline fractures in her spine.
So when I come down she was dead in her chair.
I picked her up, lay her on the carpet,
tried reviving her.
Couldn't revive her.
The ambulance come, she was pronounced dead.
Six o'clock the same day, went upstairs
to set me brother a cup of tea, he had terminal cancer.
He was dead.
- Oh my God. - The same day.
So I got nine months in the house and then after nine months
they kicked me out 'cause I couldn't pay the bedroom tax
'cause it was a three bedroom house.
They wanted £25 every week off me and I couldn't
afford it because I was only claiming benefits then.
I was only claiming £120 fortnight,
so I couldn't give them £50 out of that £120 pound
because I wouldn't been able to live so--
- [Host] Yeah, it wasn't enough benefit to live.
- No, it wasn't enough.
It was enough to live on, but if I had to pay
that bedroom tax £50 pound, then it wasn't enough
to live on so I couldn't pay it, so I had to.
They got a court order for me to leave the house.
So I had to leave the house and since then
I've been sleeping out here rough.
What I do sometimes I try and beg a tenner off people,
change, and go in an hostel where you
get an evening meal, a shower, they wash your clothes,
a bed, and a full English breakfast for a tenner.
So I try and get that every day.
That's all I beg for.
I'm not an alcoholic, I'm not a drug addict.
I've never tasted alcohol in me life.
You know, I'm 50 years of age, so, you know.
Me wife died in 2004.
Me Dad died in 2011, so.
In the 2000s, me life's just turned upside down
and here is where I sit today, where I am now,
where you're filming me, you know.
And that's how it come about, mate, honestly.
- [Host] I feel so sorry for you.
- It's okay, mate, it's not your fault.
It's not your fault, mate, it's not your
fault that I'm in this predicament,
but what does my head in, mate,
is that there's that many old houses,
empty houses, round Manchester.
Why don't they just let the homeless do 'em up
and move in there and pay the rent?
Because the social that pay the rent,
well, it just don't do that.
You know what I mean?
You'd rather just stay out here on the street and
at this time in the year, believe you me,
at nighttime it's freezing.
- No, it's really cold. - It's freezing out.
Well, it's cold during the day
so can you imagine at two, three,
four o'clock in the morning?
- [Host] And it rained last night.
- Yeah.
I am up at half six, seven o'clock every night,
every morning without fail, freezing.
I have to get up and start walking
about to get me blood flowing.
Do you know what I mean?
I'll try and get a cup of tea.
You know, something to eat, you know what I mean?
- Yeah. - You know, so--
- [Host] Where'd you sleep last night?
- You know, Selfridge's, round the corner there?
- Okay. - Underneath the thing there.
- [Host] So you stayed dry?
- Yeah, stayed dry, yeah, stayed dry.
- 'Cause it rained pretty good.
- Yeah, but it was still cold, it was still cold.
Do you know what I mean?
- [Host] What's homelessness like in Manchester?
- Oh.
You know.
It's terrible, mate, it's terrible.
Do you know what I mean?
It's terrible, honestly.
I mean, like, in the summer, you know,
you can lie on the pavement with no covers on you
when it's warm, but this time of the year,
you know, I've got this here.
I've got this sleeping bag here.
That's all I've got to keep me warm.
I've got me clothes and me bag here, what I own.
- Yeah. - Do you know what I mean?
What I've got here is what I own, that's me.
- Yeah. - That's what I own, mate.
That's me.
You know what I mean?
- [Host] Is anybody helping you?
- I'm on the housing list, but last time I went
it moved 19 places in six months. (chuckles)
So you're telling me they only
give 19 houses out in six months?
- Yeah. - Yeah right.
They just mess you about, mate.
Just mess you about, that's why it's a waste
of time going to 'em, because they only just fob you off.
Just fob you off and say, oh, you're still on the list.
Still on the list, right, okay.
I can't claim benefits 'cause I've not got a post code.
You've got to have a post code to claim benefits.
You know, an address.
I haven't got an address so I can't claim benefits.
- [Host] So you lost your benefits when--
- I've lost everything.
Yeah, I've lost everything.
I don't get no benefits.
I don't get paid like everyone does, no, I don't.
- [Host] What's your future like?
- Well, I hope it's gonna be brighter
than what it is at the moment, mate, seriously.
You know what I mean?
I don't know what the future holds, mate.
I don't know what it holds at the moment.
I'm just hoping and praying that
something turns around for me, you know,
'cause I'm a very polite man.
I speak to people with manners.
You know, I'll say to 'em, "Any spare change, please."
And if they say, no, I'll say, "Have a nice day."
You know what I mean?
I say, "Have a nice day," you know what I mean?
So, you know, I'm very polite.
I don't say, oh, "Give me your money."
I say, "Any spare change, please?"
And whatever they say, I say, "Have a nice day."
I'm very polite.
- [Host] If you had three wishes, what would they be?
- Oh, I just wish I had an house.
I wish I had me Mum back.
And I just, you know.
I don't know what the third wish is, mate, honestly,
because there's not that many things.
I just wish I had me family back and an house.
And it's not much to ask for,
to put a roof over me head, is it?
It's not much to ask for, is it?
Put a roof over me head.
It's all I ask for, put a roof over me head.
Do you know what I mean?
I'll sort the furniture and all that out
just put me in an empty house.
I'll kit it out, I'll sort it out.
I'll get secondhand furniture there
and everywhere, you know what I mean?
I don't need brand new, £1000 couches and £250 beds.
I'll get a £20 bed and a £100 couch and,
do you know what I mean?
And a £20 television.
I don't want none of these
400 quid things. - Lots of stuff.
- I'll just-- - Just a roof over your head.
- Just a roof over me head, that's all I'm asking for,
and it's not much to ask for, is it?
It's not, is it?
- No, it should be a human right.
- Yeah.
- [Host] Well, Mark, honor to meet you and thank you
so much for talking to me. - Thank you very much, mate.
You're from America, yeah?
- Yeah. - Whereabouts?
- [Host] I currently live Upstate New York.
- New York, nice one. - Yeah, I spent most
of my adult life in Los Angeles.
- Oh. - But I've been
doing this for 10 years.
- Oh, good on you, mate. - Giving rough sleepers a
platform and a voice. - Yeah, nice one, mate.
Thank you very much, hear?
Appreciate it, thank you.
Thank you for listening to me, thank you.
(upbeat electronic music)