Castlefield a “satellite” camp of St Ann's Square protest, local authority claims Homeless Rights of Justice campaigners have moved their tents from St Ann's Square to the banks of the Castlefield arena.
Street homeless people who have been involved in the protest since it began on April 15th moved camp last Wednesday because of the growing impact of alcohol in St Ann's Square. They are now being joined by young homeless campaigners who could not “get peace” in St Ann's Square.
One young homeless man explained: “Other long term homeless people, with alcohol issues, began to join the camp in St Ann's Square and it became more and more rowdy, especially at night.
“The whole point is to have a collective of homeless people, not individuals in doorways, and to campaign about homelessness while, at the same time, being actually physically safe. But homeless people with severe alcohol issues need help that we, as a group of homeless people ourselves, cannot give them without support from proper agencies.”
Another Castlefield camp member, a young woman, who has been on the protest since the beginning, added: “Since we set up in Albert Square, not a single Manchester based alcohol, drug or mental health agency has offered help to us - a group of street homeless people trying to be a collective.
“We’ve had massive support from the public but the only officials who have come to us have been environmental health, police community support and the housing outreach team. Alcohol, drugs and mental health are all key issues in homelessness, but we haven’t had any help with any of them.
“We are still here though, and we are still determined to keep going ourselves, with each other and our campaign.”
The three homeless people, who initially moved from St Ann's Square to Castlefield, have now been joined by a further 10-15 street homeless people - some from St Ann's Square and some who are joining the camp for the first time.
One of the Castlefield campers is Kelly Clark, a 39 year old mum who has been street homeless for 16 months. She lived in a Northwards Housing Association property for 16 years before she was evicted for bedroom tax related rent arrears.
Kelly has been involved with the homeless protest since Day 1 and joined the camp in St Ann's Square. On Thursday, a Manchester City Council official served her with a notice to vacate Castlefield by 4pm on Friday (19th June) on the grounds that “Manchester City Council believes that this camp is an extension or satellite of the homeless camp on St Ann’s Square”. The notice to quit went on to say that, if the campers had not vacated by Friday (which they have not), the City Council would start proceedings for possession and would seek an injunction prohibiting further camping in the city centre.
Dr Rhetta Moran, of RAPAR, said: “An injunction preventing someone from entering an area is, by its very nature, an interference of one's civil liberties and should only be granted sparingly.
“It is unclear what type of injunction the Council will seek. Any such injunction will restrict the movements of the person injuncted and is a very serious matter."
A further cause for concern is that a co-founder of the homeless campaign has told RAPAR that a city council worker offered campers hotel accommodation “on the condition that [they] do not participate further in any form of homelessness related protest.”
The Homeless Rights for Justice Campaign began on April 15th with a march to Manchester Town Hall protesting about homelessness in the city. Since then, the camp residents have been forced to move from Albert Square and from outside Central Library in St Peter's Square after Manchester City Council went to court to seek eviction orders.
The Facebook Page for Homeless Rights of Justice Mcr now has more than 3,000 Likes
https://www.facebook.com/HomelessRoJ?fref=ts
Please keep an eye on the RAPAR website for updates www.rapar.org.uk
For more information, contact Dr Rhetta Moran 07776264646 or Kath Grant 07758386208