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MANCHESTER MARCH FOR THE HOMELESS
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Star date: 16th April 2016 POP UP KITCHEN AND PROTEST ON THE STREETS Yesterday, around one hundred people took to the streets of central Manchester for the now annual March For The Homeless, with similar events taking place around the country this weekend. Alongside the march, a pop-up kitchen and clothes store was set up for the city's homeless. "I had never seen a tent in town before Cameron got in and made cuts that have made people homeless, with no help or nowhere to turn" said organiser Emma Leyla Mohareb. Full details here...
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Last year, the Manchester March for the Homeless led directly to protest camps being set up around the city centre, which brought the issue straight to the attention of a media and public that could no longer ignore it. Last night, with record numbers of homeless people on the streets, around one hundred people protested again, with a march from Piccadilly Gardens to Manchester Town Hall. "How long will it be 'til the Tories realise there is a big problem?" asked organiser Emma Leyla Mohareb "David Cameron can say that there isn't a problem but I've only seen homelessness this bad since he got in. In fact I had never seen a tent in town before Cameron got in and made cuts that have made people homeless, with no help or nowhere to turn. "We need a change and we need to make a difference" she added "The littlest gesture can change someone's life..." As if to prove the point, a pop-up street kitchen and clothes store was set up in Piccadilly, with Pizza Hut, Morrisons, Matalan, Cafe Nero, the Co-op and Sheldon's Bakery donating food and clothes. "It was lovely to see everyone say `No!' to this homeless crisis in our city" said Emma.
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Tahir Chakotai (Independent Housing Advocate) wrote
at 13:37:50 on 19 April 2016 |
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| Well done to everyone who turned up for the Homeless March. However, I feel this Salford Star story is not entirely accurate. I do believe David Cameron has made things 100 times worse for individual people and / or families who's earnings are £25,000 or less per year. His cuts to benefits should certainly not be part, or included within the "Austerity Needs Policies" for the UK. However the reason why the homeless are indeed homeless, in my opinion, is due to the inappropriate, unlawful age restricting, catorgorisation, judgemental, and nonsensical housing policies that are restricting the homeless from gaining access to Council and Housing Association properties. Both Manchester and Salford Council have made financial cuts to the Mental Health Services, CAB Funding, Housing Advocacy Services, and Homeless Hostels, claiming that they to not have sufficient budgets to carry on funding the services that help the Vulnerable, Elderly, Disabed and Destitute who live in either Salford or Manchester. In my opinion, this is a lie. The Salford Council, in my opinion, has practically given land, resources, and planning fee's away, free of charge, to the rich / affluent developer's. Both Manchester and Salford Councils, in my opinion, have wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds on pointless schemes and projects. The biggest problem posed to the homeless of Manchester and Salford, in my opinion, is not the ongoing mental ravings of our current prime minister, David Cameron, but the waisting of council money for ill fated projects. If such money, in my opinion, was not wasted on pointless waterfalls, and giving developers a free ride, then the Salford and Manchester Council would have sufficient monies, to fund worthwhile projects, that facilitate, rehabilitate, support, and help the homeless find suitable properties, thus reducing the homeless number's who sleep rough on the streets of Manchester and Salford. So it's all well and good blaming the Local Government, who in my opinion, have criminalised those on benefits unlawfully, but feel the real crux of the problem lies within our own councils, and their ability to waste public tax payers money on pointless exercises and development schemes, instead of funding worthwhile projects that promote equality for all, by ensuring that those who are homeless, receive the right support, and care services, in order to get a property, that suits their mental and physical needs. In my opinion, until we stop the ridiculous wasting of tax payers money within Saford and Manchester, the homeless count will carry on rising. |
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