listening to some of the stories and finding out more about how people become homeless, has really opened my eyes to it making me more determined to create work to highlight homelessness and to open other peoples eyes to why people find themselves in these situations.
This is David, he was a very small man, with a kind smily face, he carried a Fishermans hat which was 2 big for him. at the end of the interview he told me it only cost him £2 and he then showed me he's watch which he said he got for a quid at the market because it doesn't work..but its designer.
how long have you been coming to the crypt?
I've been coming to the crypt for 4 years
what are your reasons for coming to the crypt?
sour relationship and bad past, relationship went wrong way,she was a drinker and i was a smoker.
did you rely on each other for housing, money etc?
things went pair shaped when she starting stealing my money.
so i had to get out of that realationship, but then got myself into another that was even worse than that one.
21...haha no I'm 49
do you have a family network support such as family or friends or do you rely on the crypt for support?
if i dont come here for support i usually go to st annes cos they're quite helpful down there.
where are you from originally?
I'm originally from newcastle.
are you happier now you've been coming to the crypt?
they took my off the streets before the tour de france, they give me the opportunity to either go to prison or take a place, I'm not going to prison.
what were they saying they were going to take you to prison for?
erm, just vagrancy, they'll lock you up like that (clicks his fingers) put in into jail, just for being homeless. its ridiculous init.
was it the crypt that got you off the streets?
yea i come here and from here i went to the housing and went er private.
how did you here about the crypt then?
i heard about it at st annes, they said theres a place called st georges up the road there.
whats your employment background?
erm im a chef, self caterer, puddings, pastry shop.
that would be lithal for me id be eating all the cakes!did you have your own business or did you work for someone?
no, i started of at newcastle collage, the only was i could get in there was to do hairdressing, and once your in there you can put your name on just about anything, so started off on the hair dressing, machanics, brick laying, food course...
so you've done it all!
whats the best thing about baking?
eating it. Actually having other people saying its nice, thats more appreciative, having other people saying, i like what you've cooked there. i like cooking for other people.
so would you like to get back into that?
i 'd liked to be closer to town, now i live 45 mins walk there and back.
David went on to explain that he always believed in sharing he's past with new partners as its best to tell the truth so they can understand the real you, however he said that this has scared people away and left him alone again.. u find this can also stop you getting a job, and also the fact you dont have a permanent address?
he said he's past has always found away to bite him back
he then went on on a tangent and started taking about he's ex partners again:
1 day before my wedding she went off with my best mate, and thats what bollockes thing up, paid for church flowers, everything, everything came out my back pocket, everything.
do you get to talk about that with people here?
i dont get to talk about it with that many peple here no,
so you kids now are they ..
oh there 21, 25 all grown up ay,
what are they doing now?
term my eldest daughters erm 21, 22, she's just had a baby boy so I'm a grandad (says smiling), 17 year old son and a 16 year old daughter.
do you see them often?
yeah when i go back up-north, they only come round for (rubs he's fingers together in describe money) christmas presents, birthday presents.
After we had stopped recording david, on our way out of the interview room, we were stuck in the door so had to wait for some one to let us out:
me: oh no were locked in (jokingly)
david: its a long time since I've been locked up, I've done well. 14 years out of prison me. I've done well.
me: what were you in prison for?
david:(not word for word as it was explained mostly by gesture) me and my friends got attach and it was just me left with loads of big blocks so i just (gestured a stabbing)
 |
| Daz- everyime I've been to the crypt he has always said hi, he is a very nervous man, but polite and always has kind things to say about people. |
where are you from:
dursbury
and how long have you been coming here?
5 years
what are your reasons for coming here?
err i was with my ex partner, had a nervous break down with depression, i could cope, it was the only place i could turn to, i feel safe,
do you have family or friends that you have relied on?
I'm self efficient, i do stuff myself.
what is your educational background?
i passed like art at school, science, and geography, but cos I'm like slightly dyslexic, i weren't put into maths cos i can't do maths, i can't tell the time or not, i can only do a 12 hour clock, but i love reading though.
have you found that not having maths difficult to get a job?
yeah but i just tell them what i can and can't do. because i need help with my mental health and stuff, they said (presumably the crypt) they can work on that with ya.
do you read a lot here?
not here, i read at home.
so do you not actually.. (about to say live here)
i used to.
so do you go anywhere else other than the crypt?
no i dont.
just light house, where me best mate goes.
 |
Jonathan- very tall man, very nervous, struggled with what to say. i didn't want to ask him a lot of questions incase he wasn't comfortable answering them. |
How long have you been coming to the crypt?
term quite a while now.
what do you like about it?
the staff here are friendly, they help you sort yourself out and that. get back on ya feet and that.
what made you come to the crypt?
well i did have my own place and that, and i let a mate of mine stay with me and that lot and they were smoking drugs and that lot, and obviously on the 23rd of December they... i had to do up and see the landlord and that lot and they told me..they told me that they were kicking me out and that lot.
so it was mainly because of other people why you ended up here?
yeah.
did you have any family or friends that you could of relied on or did you just come straight here?
i just come straight here because i dont actually get on with me sister.
so when you did get kicked out of your home you could rely on her, this is the place you had to come to?
naa naa.
people took advantage of me. I've been more happy here.
so you feel that this is more your home then?
yeah, well up until today (jonathan was moving to another centre regence terrace)
do you feel your moving on?
yeah
what are your hopes after being in regence terrace?
i am hoping to get me own place, but there gonna help me up at regence terrace and that.
 |
| Tony |
i keep getting lost in this place,
you will until you know your way around.
so where are you from oringally
orignally, hartley pool
so how long have you been coming to the crypt?
5 years
so what are your reasons for coming here?
i came to leeds from a relationship breakdown in middlesbugh, i had serious health issues, and everything else, nowhere to live, no where to go, found myself in leeds city centre, the street wardens picked me up tool me up the crypt at the old school before renovations where finished here, i got given food, shelter clothing, they saved my life. what can i say, you no what i mean.
so its been a massive help for you to start back up.
yeah it has
did you not have any friends or family network that you could turn to when you were on the street?
no. been on my own since i was 15. lost all my family at 15. mum dad and 2 sisters just gone.in one day. it happens.
was that a accident?
yep. house fire. gone.
i was out at school and they were trapped. couldn't get out, terrible.
that was in hartly pool when i was 15, 20..25 years ago now. wow.
So you were at school when that happened?
yep. got a call at school, come home and theres your wrecked home, at theres your parents and stuff.
so obviously would of made it hard for you to finish school.
yeah well i didnt. i didnt finish school.
so employment wise, was it hard to get a job with out these qualifications.
I've mainly been training, volunteering for years, you no what i mean, because theres no point in me applying for a job, cos I've got drugs in me previous, I've got a criminal record, stuff like that, they arent gonna wanna no.
its bad that they dont understand you as a person, they just go off ....
yep they see the criminal record NO SCUM BAG straight in the bin you no they dont look at the person or the reasons why you had to do what you did and thats the thing I've been here now, 5 years with me voluntary, I've got chemical qualifications, I've got gardening qaulifications, I've got all sorts from here and with me doing this its set me in good stred for when i do go for a job they can go yeah, he works for us he's done this for us he's done that for us,
so you feel this has set you up for the next stage in your life?
the next 10 or 20 years of my life is sorted, because of here, if it weren't for here, where would i be.
so do you volunteer at the crypt yourself to help other people?
yeah ,
what do you gain from this?
a sense of well being, a sense of satisfaction really, because these help me, and if i wasnt helping them, what would i be doing. id be sat around doing nothing, so i come in, give me time, it makes me feel better about myslef knowing I've gave something back to the people who have helped me and saved my life. even if one person comes up to you st the end of that week and says thank you, for what you did it makes you feel worth while because I've come from nothing, I've had nothing, now I've just helped you.
when you say qualifications do you mean..
its training, ocn? I've done some with them, I've got a certificate from the chelsea flower show, i won a silver medal at that, I'm the man responsible for this garden out here, i did all this a couple of years ago, I've got my chemical certicates from here, all because you need to know before you put it in the garden or the kitchen, you need to no what your touching dont ya.
i love this place, i do.
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