On the 19th of October, a typical busy day in Central London, while that may be stressful for some, for Jason (aged 36) there were worse things to be concerned about.
Walking out of London Waterloo Station into the chaotic streets of the capital, the first thing you might expect to see may be the renowned London Eye, or one of the city's recognizable red buses or black cabs; however, when I emerged from the station on Monday morning, I saw neither and instead saw a man by himself, silently slumped into the corner of a building with a frown on his face and a black cat on his lap.
The topic of homelessness has long been a cause for national concern, historically dating back to as early as the 19th century during the post-civil-war period, and it is only now in recent years that we are being made increasingly more aware of the disastrous effects it has had on the lives of many people and how it remains and continues to be a rising problem. Major cities around the world such as London are overflowing with unhoused and unlucky people. In 2019, Shelter shockingly reported that more than 280,000 people in England were without a stable living situation or homeless and that more than 60% of these people were in London alone, where around 1 in 52 are homeless.
While there are citizens that remain concerned with the serious situation to hand and many hardworking charities whose work is a real benefit to the lives of numerous people, such as the Glassdoor charity whom I have had the privilege of working with over the past few winters at my local church; Evolve has stated that according to 13% of Londoners, they believe that there is enough being done already to tackle the issue of homelessness. In my opinion, I think that even though more is being done than ever before, there is always more that can be done to help; for instance, donating money or simply some of your time to a charity or similar organisation which could help save a life and prevent countless people from experiencing potentially violent and harmful situations that recent statistics show rough sleepers are 17 times more likely to experience.
Sadly, there are many more people in a similar situation to Jason, with only a pet as their companion and where each day contains struggle. This is prevalent even more so due to the current effects of the pandemic with many losing jobs and becoming short of money. So next time you walk out of a station or wherever you may be and see someone like Jason - I urge you to use that as a sign to do some good for someone else and take action.
