- [Interviewer] Andy, we're here in Cardiff.
You're homeless, tell me about it.
- Well basically I've been homeless the last three weeks now
because I've been going to housing options every day
for the last, since, til nine o'clock, til 4 o'clock in the
afternoon and that's all they been saying is, basically
"come back tomorrow, come back tomorrow, come back tomorrow"
and I've been sleeping rough ever since.
- What happened?
- My dad's an alcoholic and we basically fell out and
I'd rather stay out than stay with my dad.
- Now how old are you?
- 21.
- Do you, you just feel safer out here than--
- Much safer out here.
- That's gotta be a horrible feeling.
- You wouldn't know it unless you've done it.
- I mean earlier I that, looked like you were
trying to sleep, I never wake anybody up.
- That's how tired I, I've been up walking around for three
weeks, for three days my feet are hurting that much
I've had to sit down and just try and sleep.
I've had to try to sleep in the middle of the street.
That's how desperate I am just to sleep.
- How are you surviving out here?
- By just ways and means, just by asking people
and begging people just to feed me and just to
you know, get by.
- That's no way to live.
- No way to live at all, it's no life for me.
It's no life for nobody, it's not a life.
- All these people are just walking by.
I've never been-- this is my first time to Cardiff.
- They've been walking by, they've been spitting at me,
they've thought me a junkie, they've thought me a drinker.
I don't drink, I don't take drugs, that's all I do
is smoke cigarettes and I've been told all sorts.
I've been told, "get a job, get this, do this, do that,
get off your ass."
I havent' got nothing and I haven't got nobody to help me
so what could I do?
How can I get help?
Where can I get a job, you know?
Just stupid questions they're giving you that you can't
give answers for, you just cannot give answers for.
"Why are you sleeping rough?"
Because, problems in my life.
"Why don't you get up and go sleep somewhere else?"
Because I haven't got nowhere else to sleep.
I've got nowhere else to sleep.
- People are so judgemental, they don't know what it's like.
- You'd never believe how judgemental they really are.
You're just the same as everybody else.
You're just a human being, just to get by
and when you're homeless to try and get by
is the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
That's the honest truth, the hardest thing
I've ever had to do is get by when I'm homeless.
'Cause soon as someone finds out that you're homeless
and you've got blankets in your hand, that's it.
You're an automatic junkie, you're an automatic
waste of space soon as you've got blankets in your hand
in the street you're an automatic waste of space.
And it's not right.
People carry a blanket around with them to stay warm.
I didn't carry a blanket around with me for two weeks
because I was embarrassed just to carry a blanket.
But now in the end I got so cold I didn't really care
about embarrassment, I carry a blanket, I had to.
I had to wrap up in the street in a blanket.
And they think you're weird because you're in the street
with a blanket around you-- no, it's because
I'm freezing cold and I've got nowhere else to go.
- My heart breaks for you.
You can't give up.
- You can't give up, no.
People think that you want food and you do want food,
but you want your own food.
They pass you a Burger King-- what if you don't want
Burger King, what if you want, you know what I mean?
I get passed about 15 Burger Kings a day,
I get passed about 15 McDonalds a day.
I don't eat them, I just chuck em in the bin.
So they really just, really use your head.
If you don't want to give someone money,
don't give em nothing, don't give em the time of day.
'Cause if you're gonna think about somebody and you're gonna
go buy them food, I'd rather-- you might as well go
give them the five pound note, and tell him to go
buy his own food and whatever they wanna go and buy
even if they do wanna go buy drugs or drink.
At least give me the opportunity.
You haven't forced food upon them.
- I agree with you, and when I was homeless and I was
a drug addict and people gave me money and if I'd buy drugs
it saved my life because then I didn't get dopesick
and if I'm dopesick I'm vulnerable out here.
- Yeah
- And it's dangerous, you know?
- Yeah
- Just 'cause you wanna give-- I had another friend that
just wanted a toothbrush and everyone just kept on putting,
you know, McDonalds at his feet.
Even though he had four, five hundred meals,
he still couldn't get a toothbrush.
- Yeah I just throw it in the bin.
Don't buy it, I get, I could chuck food all day.
- You need housing.
- I need housing, I need a mobile phone, I need essentials.
I need a towel, I need a toothbrush, I need toothpaste.
I need some toilet rolls, I need a flannel to wash my face.
I need, you know, essentials.
Don't buy me a McDonalds,
I don't want a McDonalds.
I'd rather a nice kit with toothbrush and toothpaste.
You know, a bag of wet wipes, I'd rather that.
They go and spend four quid on Burger King that
I'm gonna chuck in the bin.
I coulda bought a toothbrush and toothpaste with that.
- Thank you for being honest.
- It's hard to stay well on the streets.
You can't brush your teeth, you can't wash your hands.
You go into a restaurant and they find out you're homeless,
whoah the barriers are up-- you've gotta leave
that building, you've gotta leave that restaurant
because you're homeless.
- It's really really getting to me.
It's getting to the point that I don't even know
if I wanna live or die.
I live on the streets thinking to myself do I wanna live
or do I wanna die on the streets?
I don't really care, I don't really want, you know?
- You can't give up.
- I don't know if it's easier on that side or this side
of life, I don't know.
I'm at that stage of my life where I really don't know
if I wanna live or not.
- You wanna live and you can't give up.
And I'll get you inside tonight.
- How?
- I'll give you some money.
You can't give up Andy, I know how hard it is.
You'll find help, what you can't do is give up.
- Thank you for even stopping.
Thank you for even speaking to me
'cause there's people who just walk past and spit at me
and don't even acknowledge me.
You know, I'm a human being the same as anybody else.
They look at me because of my long hair and I had my
hair cut but I can't have a wash.
I'm a low life.
All I wanna do is get inside and have a bath, have a shave.
- You're a human.
- Not everybody take drugs, not everybody drinks.
My dad was an alcoholic for 20 years,
I don't even like the smell of drink.
Drugs, I would never go by anybody who takes drugs
because I wouldn't want to, I wouldn't want them to--
I wouldn't want me to think that
anything that they're doing is good.
You know, so that's why I gotta stay away from that yeah?
I gotta stay away from all that stuff.
You don't see, it's not in your mind you know?
- If you had three wishes what would they be?
- Have a nice house, have a nice job and have a family.
- Great wishes.
Thank you very much for talking to me.
- Thank you very much for stopping.
(electronic instrumental music)