COULD I just offer a word of support to the people who live at the York Arc Light Project? It is true that some of the residents of the project have appeared in the court listings published in the Evening Press. However, I would suggest that for every one of these there are probably 20 convictions from people who live at "conventional" addresses.
Does R S Watson think that these crimes will not occur if the centre is closed down?
What will happen for certain is that 40 people who use the facility every day will be on the streets, that's 40 people possibly sitting in doorways or on the pavements with winter approaching because for one reason or another there is literally nowhere else for them to go.
It is easy to generalise and say that these men and women choose this lifestyle. It simply is not true. No one would want to be homeless in this way. Since I have been a volunteer for the Arc Light Project I can say quite definitely that some of the residents there are among the most genuine and likeable people I have ever met and I am sure that if R S Watson were to spend a few nights helping at the facility he would fully support this view.
Anne Wood,
Hamilton Way,
York.
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