The millions of visitors that come to York each year do so for the city’s beauty, scenery and attractions. But among the bustling streets packed with shoppers and tourists, a largely ignored few live in desperation. As part of our Stamp Out Poverty campaign, a special investigation over today and tomorrow reveals that time on the streets does not mean all is lost, and remarkable work is being done to tackle an easily forgotten problem inside the city’s walls.

EVERYONE inside the small room, lined with tables and blue plastic chairs has a story to tell, and circumstances dictate they must go there or starve.

Many use it to go somewhere warm for breakfast or meet up with people they know only through sleeping rough.

For some it has been part of their daily routine for decades, but for others, the harsh realities of losing their job and home have led them to find salvation.

When the doors open at Carecent around 8.30am, a steady stream of people come inside searching for a meal at Central Methodist Church, on St Saviourgate.

Around four or five people are queuing up from 8.20am and it's easy to see why - they are starving and after a night of very little sleep and a day of walking the city's streets ahead, they need fuel.

One of those in the queue is dad-of-two Nicholas Oakland, a 22-year-old who has lived on the streets for four years.

He has left his tent stashed in a bush next to Heslington Road allotments to come and get breakfast.

He said: "I've been coming here on and off all my life.

"I used to live with my girlfriend and go between there and my mum's, but they disowned me.

"All I do is walk about all day then go back to my tent on Heslington Road next to a bush in a field.

"There's no blankets and it's freezing. You never get used to it and I don't know how I've got through it.

"I can't remember the last time I slept in a bed.

"All that keeps me going is getting some accommodation so I can get my kids back.

"I've had to wait to get an interview for somewhere and get into a hostel."

Being on the streets means no Christmas celebrations with family and friends. A reality Nicholas knows only too well.

"Every Christmas for the last two years I've been on my own with no visitors.

"It's been hard but I'm hoping it will change when I get a house."

At Never Give Up, a centre for the homeless at The Belfrey Centre, on Stonegate, homeless people turn up every Thursday for a three course meal.

Abbey Tudor, 46, admits she has resorted to shoplifting three times to get a roof over her head in prison.

"I've been on the streets three years and put myself in prison three times," she added.

"I put myself in there to get three meals a day and to sort my head out.

"It's easier to go into prison because York is the worst place to find anywhere to live."

The annual Homelessness Review compiled by City of York Council revealed the number of people living on the streets in York fell by 25.5 per cent in 2013/14, from 146 to 109, compared to a national drop of 2.3 per cent.

The city beat its target for reducing the number of families in temporary accommodation, but the number of rough sleepers rose from eight to nine and the 'homeless prevention' count of the number of people protected from becoming homeless fell from 746 to 683.

Marc Duncan, 34, has lived on the streets with Sasha, an English toy terrier dog, for the last six months after running up debts which forced him out of home.

Marc said: "Being on the streets is horrible because people look down on you straight away like you're a rat.

"It doesn't matter if you're smartly dressed or not, if you have luggage they look down, some shout and call me a 'smack head' and tell me I shouldn't have a dog because it's cruel.

"Just because you're homeless doesn't mean to say you are the scum of the earth."

Marc has been offered a room in a hostel but has refused to go because Sasha is not allowed in the homes.

"Because I have a dog I can't go anywhere. I've had her three years this Christmas and she's my everything.

"I wouldn't give her up and would stay on the streets before I did that."

Due to Marc's decision to stay on the streets he claims he is often accused of being a beggar - an accusation he denies because of the connotations that come with it.

He added: "The only time you make any money is from the people that go drinking on a weekend that give you money.

"Begging isn't for me and if a member of a public gives me money then that's up to them.

"I don't sit in the crowd and beg or sit on the high street. People come up to me."

Another homeless dog owner, who declined to be named, added: "I've been told by the police that I'm intentionally making myself homeless because I have a dog and he said if it was him he would give his dog away if there was a choice between him and his dog.

"I couldn't do that because it's like having a kid.

"I wouldn't give her away for any amount of money."


Homelessness situation is the worst volunteers have seen

"THIS is the worst we have seen."

Volunteers helping York's homeless population sigh as they reveal the true extent of the people coming through their doors on a daily basis in search of a hot meal.

The city's Carecent service is now 30 years old, but the number of people turning up has increased since the recession, according to frontline workers.

When the doors open at 8.30am six days a week, more than 70 people will have a hot meal in over two hours in a room behind Central Methodist Church, on St Saviourgate.

Inside stand pans full to the brim of baked beans and hot dogs, warm buttered toast is stacked high and corned beef is sliced to provide a makeshift cooked breakfast.

But one experienced charity volunteer working with Carecent's homeless says the situation is declining as the groups responsible for supporting people on the streets struggle to cope with demands.

The volunteer, who declined to be named, has worked for the service over the last six years and has seen a rise in those struggling with life.

She said: "I work with some of the most marginalised people in York and they are faring worse.

"In six years this is the worst I've seen.

"They find it very difficult to get someone to listen to them. They are quite aggressive and come across as quite defensive, and speak violently, and people don't see past that.

"It gets worse because it seems to be more and more difficult for people with entrenched addictions to find somewhere to live, and they are not getting a resettlement because they are not good with rules, then you have to think about the other people that live there."

Trying to get those in desperate need of a bed into somewhere which can accommodate them is hard enough, however, others will take matters into their own hands and live a life of crime because they prefer prison's "luxuries".

She said: "Sometimes people actually commit a crime because they feel safer or better cared for in prison.

"They get better mental health care, better physical health care and more help with their addiction because they get the detox they badly need.

"They are working with homeless organisations in prison, but the whole thing just starts again when they come out.

"I see people who have recently got out of prison and the difference is huge compared to when they are inside."

Nicky Gladstone, manager of Carecent, believes there are more hungry homeless people than previous years.

"In the last couple of years it's definitely got busier as things have become tighter for everybody," she added.

"Plenty is being done for people that are sleeping rough but a lot isn't done to address why they are sleeping rough in the first place.

"You are never going to stop it because there's always someone who slips through the net either accidentally or deliberately, but the biggest issue is mental illness and addiction, and not enough is done to address that.

"It's easier to dismiss people when they are at the bottom of the pile.

"Sending people to prison for a few weeks isn't the best."

Steph Brodie manages Never Give Up and has been a part of the service for four years.

The Belfrey Hall, in Stonegate, opens every Thursday afternoon to serve hot meals, and does not turn anyone away.

She said: "If you look at what is available in the city, most of them are faith groups. If they closed the city would be stuffed.

"It's about time they were cared for.

"I understand the city has a budget and it's an attractive place, like London with its bright lights and wealth, but I don't think there's a lot of wealth, it's just a few people at the top and there's not enough in the city.

"Some homeless people aren't suitable to go into a job and a flat at the same time because it's too much for them.

"There needs to be somewhere open seven days a week where they can sleep.

"A lot of homeless people aren't able to go into work and a flat at the same time because it's too much for them.

"They won't stay in sheltered housing forever, but they need to learn that it can be too soon for them."

Laura Hagues, project manager at the Acomb-based York Foodbank, said: "The majority of the people we see are middle aged single men who find it the hardest to get support because they don't have children or people dependent. "They aren't the biggest priority, but we often have families coming to us as well.

"We are the first port of call before people fall into homelessness and we make sure they have the right support while they still have a roof over their head.

"Our services do overlap and we do some of the same work but the people we see have got a fixed address.