Home UK Christmas is just another day say homeless people at festive shelter

Christmas is just another day say homeless people at festive shelter

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For many, Christmas Day is a time to spend with friends and family eating plentiful amounts of food.

However for those without a stable home, their reality can be very different.

As temperatures drop, many rely on shelters and churches to provide food and a respite from life on the streets.

Recent figures from the national homelessness charity Crisis showed that more than 24,000 face sleeping rough this Christmas.

Metro.co.uk spoke to three men who will be spending today at Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 2018/12/21: A homeless man is seen sleeping on London's Oxford Street while covering his face with H&M shopping bag. On 18 December, Gyula Remes from Hungary died after choking on his own vomit outside the Houses of Parliament. According to official statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, 597 homeless people died in England and Wales in 2017. (Photo by Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Metro.co.uk went to Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness to speak to their guests about Christmas (Picture: Getty)

Laurence, 25, moved to England from Dublin when he was three. He has been homeless for a couple of months after he lost his job in hospitality.

He told Metro.co.uk there doesnt seem to be much worth celebrating at the moment, but hopes there will be in the future.

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He said: Ill probably go to the gym or something. Ive got no plans for Christmas Day, I didnt really plan to celebrate it.

thumbnail for post ID 8260993Soldier who ended up homeless says getting an oven for Christmas helped save his life

I dont really feel theres much cause for celebration this year. I dont feel like Im going to be missing out, there are other things I need to concentrate on and other things I am looking forward to.

Ive enjoyed many Christmases before and Im sure I will enjoy many more in the future. I dont feel like Im going to really miss it.

It will just be another day that Ive got to go and do stuff.

The whole Christmassy side of things kind of left me a few years ago, I feel a bit desensitised from it all anyway although I do think its a really nice time of year.

Most of my family live abroad. I do have some of the in the UK but I dont really keep in contact with them.

I dont really speak to my mum and last I heard my father is living in Thailand.

The capital London has especially seen a rise homeless people living on the streets. This despite a massive property and building boom going on (Photo by Gail Orenstein/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

More than 24,000 people are expected to be sleeping rough this Christmas (Picture: NurPhoto)

James, 19, lost his mother and sister in a car accident when he was a young boy in France and spent most of his childhood growing up in a Polish Orphanage.

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He came to England in July for work, but was robbed of his money and possessions on the day he arrived and has been sleeping rough ever since.

But despite his hard start to life, he says his mantra is Cest la vie, and is planning on returning to France to join the French Foreign Legion in the new year.

He said: They say good karma comes to those who suffer so maybe something good is coming my way.

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The plan for Christmas day is to train, learn, eat something, train some more learn some more, go to sleep.

I want to get back into shape so Im ready to join the army and Christmas will be just another day.

Chester, 24, moved to England from Liberia with his family as a teenager in 2012, and became homeless when his parents moved back there for work.

This is the first Christmas he has spent on the streets.

Reflecting on the day, he said: Let me have a home, let me have a shower. I mean what is that? Its so hard.

I wont be on the street on Christmas Day, Im going to work out where Im going to go.

Being homeless is very bad, its my first time not having somewhere to live. It should have been really good, and I shouldnt be in the situation I am in.

But if it is happening then it is part of a bigger plan.

epa07239950 Angel, 25, from Barnsley in London, Britain, 19 December 2018. Angel ended up on the street after domestic abuse issues with her boyfriend. 'I'm stuck on the street', she says, 'I can't see a way out. London now accounts for a quarter of Britain's homeless. Some twenty five thousand people across the UK are facing Christmas on the street. EPA/ANDY RAIN

people have been urinated on them while they were asleep, and had their sleeping bags pulled off them (Picture: EPA)

Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness (KCAH) is an independent charity that provides shelter for up to 30 men and women.

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They also offer food, clothing and support to countless others.

Team leader, Liz Newling-Ward, spoke about some of the abuse they face on a day-to-day basis.

She said: They talk about people who have urinated on them while theyve been asleep, pulled their sleeping bags. Drunk people are just generally not very nice to them.

thumbnail for post ID 8282539First picture of pensioner who died days after being attacked in his own home

It brings them down, its degrading and it makes them feel like a lower class of people.

This can happen to anybody, these people have come from all different walks of life.

Its made me realise youre just a few pay cheques away from being homeless.

Weve got a few that go up to Crisis at Christmas, who provide a week of activities and support.

They have three meals a day, a roof over their head, access to doctors and lawyers.

A lot of them will go to Christmas meals in different churches, were doing a cooked breakfast and making it special.

Figures show 597 homeless people died in 2017(Picture: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Last week it was revealed that 597 homeless people died in 2017.

Sophie Mayor, also from KCAH, said people on the streets find Christmas very hard.

Weve managed to keep everything relatively chirpy, but I think a some of it might be a bit of a mask so Im planning some nice things to do.

Its important to do something because theyre not with family and friends, and theyre basically living with strangers right now. Its not really very Christmassy.

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There are different things that go on in Kingston, but there is an issue that theyre only open from around 11am until 3pm. Theres a dead period when the guys get kicked out of the shelter and when the other things open.

We only open again at 8pm in the evening and we can only provide the support in the evening, and the heartbreaking thing is that there is that period where people will be out on their own on Christmas.

And that it really sad.

So what can you do to help?

Find out what your local homeless charity is, the small ones will always need your help.

If you can spare your time, find a project to get involved with and just see what you are able to do.

For more information about KCAH, please click here.

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