In recent months, two women have been sleeping on mattresses under the Stroud Green Road bridge. Loretta Thomas tells their stories – and finds out what barriers are stopping them accessing the help they need.
The neatly made bed and the tidily arranged possessions wouldn’t be out of place in a showroom.
This is the scene hundreds of commuters are faced with under the Stroud Green Road bridge every day and night: two homeless women who have set up their lives on donated mattresses.
One woman calls herself Blue. The 27-year-old says she had her own home in Haringey four or five years ago, but left to live with her boyfriend.
But in 2015 he died and she went to Haringey Council for help. She claims the town hall wouldn’t rehouse her, saying she had made herself intentionally homeless when she gave up her tenancy to live with her partner.
Why did she never add her name to his tenancy? “We didn’t think he was going to die.”
Blue went to live with her mum but tragedy struck again: her mum died suddenly, leaving her homeless.
She lived on a friend’s sofa, but that temporary arrangement came to an end and she decided to cross the border into Islington – a way of escaping the drugs and alcohol dependency that dogged her old lifestyle. She has been under the bridge for more than a year.
Blue says she has “no ID, no benefits, nothing”.
“I don’t want to be here,” she tells the Gazette. “People walk past me every day.
“I don’t beg and I go to the 10p and 20p toilet to have a wash. It is ridiculous.”
She says she’s had difficulty getting help from Islington’s community drug and alcohol services because she has no local connection. But the council said workers with drugs advisory service Change, Grow, Live Islington visit the bridge regularly and point anyone who needs help towards their HQ in Seven Sisters Road.
Meanwhile, Blue says Haringey refuses to help her with housing because it still believes she made herself intentionally homeless when she went to live with her boyfriend. A Haringey spokesman said he could not comment on her circumstances because of “strict rules around data privacy”.
The other woman, K, also originally from the Haringey side of the border, says she fled domestic violence. She is substance dependent and has been street homeless and living under the bridge for eight months.
She says she left hospital after an overdose attempt and is now “too afraid to go to services” and “scared of being sectioned in a mental health hospital”. Last week, Islington Council workers removed K’s mattresses because they were forcing pedestrians to walk in the cycle lane.
Islington’s housing boss Cllr Diarmaid Ward said: “We’re seriously concerned about the health and well-being of anyone sleeping rough in Islington.
“Specialist teams are conducting ongoing work here to tackle rough sleeping and associated issues, alongside charities like St Mungo’s and The Big Issue, as well as police and neighbouring boroughs.
“We offer support to all rough sleepers in the borough, many of whom are vulnerable or have complex needs.
“We cannot force them to accept it, but St Mungo’s staff are very skilled in working with hard-to-engage people, and a number of people here have recently been supported off the streets and into safe, secure accommodation.”
Blue said she had been visited by a St Mungo’s worker who is going to help her get more council support.
A spokesman for Haringey Council said: “We are aware that there are rough sleepers in Stroud Green Road.
“Rough sleepers often have complex needs and our street teams have been to the area to offer support, which we know people desperately need when they are homeless.
“We are also liaising with colleagues in Islington Council and homelessness charities to reach out to rough sleepers in this area.”
But asked about Blue’s allegation that she was being treated as intentionally homeless, he added: “There are very strict rules around data privacy and it would be inappropriate for us to discuss any individual’s circumstances.”
--------------------------------------------------
The woman we have identified as K has this poem attached to her makeshift home for passers-by to read. It is reproduced here with her permission.
I know how it looks
and I know what you’ll see
So now I’ll explain
just what happened to me
For my life was once perfect
until the day of our fight
And now I’m being punished
and it doesn’t seem right
My daughter moved in
as she was finding things rough
She didn’t like my husband
until he started buying her puff
He said not to tell you
He made me swear on my life
It was the very moment
I picked up the knife
‘It’s not a big deal,’
she said with a gloat
I felt it was grooming
so I went to his throat
He had me arrested
and she stood by him
They then changed the locks
and left my belongings in a bin
So now I’m alone
and this is where I sleep
Now you know why
you sometimes see me weep
So now that you know,
please don’t pity me
Just remember I’m human
and try not judging me.
• If you see someone sleeping rough, you can help connect them to local services by visiting streetlink.org.uk.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here