I spent a few nights on the streets sleeping rough, of course got hooked in to that horrible scene with drugs and what-not, and now, I’m not living in hostels anymore. I’m with a charity called Bridge-It Housing. I’ve got my own room and I’m having a hard job fighting the demons like everybody does but I’m slowly winning, and now I’ve got some good support.

When you get made homeless and you’re sleeping rough, cos you’re being pushed from pillar to post as well, it’s like a damn great big circle and it’s a vicious circle. You get on the drugs to sort of, the only way I can put it is in plain English, you just want to escape.

I was lucky that the last hostel I was in, I had an interview for Bridge-It housing and they offered me a place so I jumped at it, but I had to go into a rehab and have a bit of a clean-up and I’m trying to get my act together and get off the drugs altogether. It’s hard , I won’t say it aint but I’ll say one thing for anybody that’s gonna, you know, end up on the street. Try and keep away from it. Alright, I know it’s somewhere you want, it just takes you out of that world where you are, when you think no one cares about me, no one gives 2 monkeys uncles what I’m doing. They do, it’s just you’ve got to ask for the help.

When I come out, I went back to the hostel and a bloke was running amok one night. With a knife he was going around knocking on everybody’s door, “I’m gonna stab you, you fuckin bastard.” The next day I said to the manager at the hostel, I said “Look, if you don’t get me out of here by tonight I’ll get my fucking self out because I can’t put up with no more of this.”

So a couple of hours went past and Jeff the manager come down to my room and he said “Get your things together. I’m moving you tomorrow. You’re going to Bridge-It houses.” So I said “Oh, I had an interview for them didn’t I.” He said “Yeah, they just offered you a place in Longsight.” So I said “Oh, Good” cos he said “You wanted to stay round this area didn’t you.” I said “Yeah, I’ve made friends round here.” So he said “Right, fair enough,” and the next day I went to Longsight.

I’d like to do a bit of voluntary work here, because the other week I helped out one night on the soup-run. I’d like to, sort of, do a bit of voluntary work for people like what I’ve been through.

I just had my 72^nd birthday last week. I organised a party, you know, a few drinks and what-not, and no bugger turned up.