Life in the real world

I sometimes despair of the human race! With major disasters happening seemingly everyday, the credit crunch, children being horrifically abused, what occupies the minds of the public and the media? It's one of two issues. The ongoing saga of Strictly Come Dancing with the dancing pig, and is the voting on X factor fair?

What seems to have been missed with the 'pig' is that he finally quit to go on a free luxury cruise (or so it was reported) and who really cares about the X Factor and the (so it seems) stage managed rows. It's about time we had a reality check on the reality tv shows! Those who know tell me it's cheap to make the programmes (and it sure does show in the content) and the whole aim of the programmes is to win the battle of the viewers. Do not even get me started on Big Brother and I'm a celebrity!

Can you imagine what would happen if the put down of contestants, the sarcasm of highly paid 'celebrity' judges etc were to happen in the office or workplace? Before you could say Simon Cowell, someone would be facing a disciplinary hearing and eventually be dismissed for gross misconduct. Talking of gross misconduct, I see a certain chat show host/radio presenter has been given the green light to return to work after his suspension ends.

When will someone face the reality that reality tv is past its sell by date and should be disposed of. Please put it out of our misery!

Whoops!

Just a quick post to clarify that the 'Alan' mentioned in the two posts re the mean streets of West Brom is not the Alan that occasionally attends West Bromwich Community Church. My apologies for any confusion and thanks to Jan for raising the query.

Food Bank on the move!

After my recent posts on the theme of the mean streets of West Brom, it's great to report some good news!

The Food Bank which since it began has been based at the West Bromwich Community Church is moving into offices at the Wood Lane Community Centre. We believe that this move will enhance the service we offer to those who are in crisis and remove the barrier that some may put up in coming to a church for help.

The weekly rent is low and includes heating lighting and everything else! We have also been given free use of a cellar where we can store our stocks of food. There is also the potential to rent more space if we find that we need it in the future.

Keep visiting this blog for more updates!

Life on the mean streets of West Brom (part 2)

A quick update on Alan (see previous post). I had not seen Alan for over a week, when his friend John turned up at church today (7th). Apparently Alan had been beaten up again and was now in the orthopaedic hospital in Birmingham. The police (according to John) had not arrested the alleged assailants and were not active in pursuing the matter.

Alan had a social worker from the adult team who rang me to say that he was closing the case as it appeared Alan was able to do the normal things of life. All the social worker could do was to signpost him to support agencies for help with his alcohol and mental health issues. He could do nothing about his homelessness as it was not his department.

Meanwhile John had moved into a flat after a time on the streets. He had Alan to stay a couple of nights, but Alan brought home four 'friends' including a 19 year old female. There was trouble, a neighbour called the police and the friend was evicted. He is now back on the streets, nowhere to live.

I am really having a problem on how to finish this blog without going into a total rant about injustice and the marginalisation of a vulnerable section of society. Suffice to say, that we will return to this subject soon!

Life on the mean streets of West brom

Let me introduce you to Alan. He is a 64 year old man and lives in West Brom. Nothing unusual in that you may think, lots of 64 year old men live in West Brom. What's so special about Alan?

When someone reaches their 60's the natural assumption is that they are settled, have a home and family and are enjoying their work or in some cases their retirement. Think again!

Alan has problems. He once invited some 'friends' to his home, they caused so much trouble that he was eventually evicted. Since then he has lived on the streets. He has been beaten up, had his benefits stolen and been in hospital at least once. One of my colleaues from the food bank actually saw him walking the street in hospital pajamas, and, thinking he had walked out persuaded him to go back to the hospital. They had in fact discharged him. When I met Alan for the first time, he was filthy, wearing dirty clothes and his face was covered in that stuff they use when treating cuts. He had no money, was waiting for an emergency payment from the benefits agency and had been to see the police about his being beaten. He did not want to press charges or make a statement and so the police could do nothing.

I managed to talk to his social worker who said that he could do an assessment but if he 'passed' he could only signpost him to support agencies for his alcohol problems. I did, however, manage to get Alan an appointment for the next day.

The next day came and at lunch time Alan and his friend turned up at church. They were both soaking wet and very cold. Talking to them, it turned out that Alan had not made the appointment but had been to see the police again and had decided to press charges against those who hade assaulted him. He was to go back later to the police station and have photos taken of his injuries.

At this time, we had just finished serving senior citizens at our weekly luncheon club and as there was some food remaining, Alan tucked into a hot meal and really enjoyed it. His friend was also fed. While it is not our practice to give money to anyone coming in to the church, a member was so touched and concerned about Alan's plight that she gave him some money to buy a coat. Alan should be in sheltered or supported housing with support workers helping him to work through his issues. He should not be walking the streets of West Brom!

Where have we gone wrong? We can explore space with no problem, we can get involved in wars that are illegal, we can bail out the banks who through their own fault have lost millions, but we cannot look after some of the most vulnerable people in our society!