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Ex service personnel should never end up living on the streets of Britain. If you agree with us please help!
Soldiers Off The Street Company Limited by Guarantee No. 07018818.
Soldiers off the street badges are now on sale at S.O.T.S Badge!
UK FATALITIES
A gentle reminder to keep your life in perspective.
When you meet one of our returning Soldiers.
Please remember what they've been through and show them.
Compassion and Tolerance!
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We support soldiers off the streets and are proud to do so!
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We have been given permission to sell the album Fallen Angels, a great composition of 12 songs Invisible, Fallen Angels, Universal Love, Leaders of the Universe, Do You Need a Reason, Substitute, Our Love Grows, City Lights, Love Again, Big World, Spaceman and Ambitions.
The main song Fallen Angels is about the homeless and all profits going to Soldiers off the street. Buy your copy here for only £5 + £1.50 P&P. The owner of the album have also given Soldiers Off The Street the copyrights of the main song Fallen Angels to use as our own theme song, this offer we have gladly accepted as we feel like a photo a song says it all. See the video of Fallen Angels: Here. |
Afghanistan British service personnel away from home in the Helmand Province. |
United Kingdom British ex service personnel back home on the streets and forgotten. |
Welcome to the soldiers off the street web site, we are a new organisation with a dedicated group of people determined to help the forgotten ex service personnel whose lives have been affected by homelessness.
We all think they deserve better after going through the traumatic experience of war in far off lands, what they have been through for the country they love, to be forgotten and homelessness is a national disgrace.
All those who sent them away in the first place should hang their heads in shame for the way ex service personnel are left to fend for themselves, we all hear about the tens of thousands MP's award themselves in pensions, but the same MP's have got no time for those that have laid their lives on the line for their country.
Photos say more then a thousand words, so please look at the two we have above, they say it all. Photos obtained on the net, they are in the public domain and free to publish from Wikipedia, the one of a person living on the street, we used this one as an example; we will not be taking photos of any ex service personnel living on the street for publication. Let's leave them with some dignity they have lost everything else in their lives.
Here is a short video you should see it was what made us start: The soldiers off the streets organisation. Ex-forces and homeless.
Here is one sent to us from Roger, not homeless Ex-forces but they do get a mention. In the photos you will see ask yourself how many are homeless Ex-forces?
We have tried to build this web site as simple as possible but with as much information as possible. For example the left hand side of this page, you will see the vagrancy act making ex service personnel not only homeless but criminals in the eyes of the law, but the good news is we have not heard of anyone being prosecuted.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for any donations that you make and assure you that 100% donated will be used to help ex service personnel back into a normal life. Please go through all of the Soldiers Of the Street web site as we feel once you can see what we aim to achieve you will want to help in some way or the other.
| Here is a letter sent to us please read and spare a thought: |
The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, just old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He has never collected unemployment either.
He's a recent Comprehensive School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.
He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.
He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.
He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march.
He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient.
He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.
He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.
If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.
He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands.
He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.
He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all.
He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime.
He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.
He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking.
In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.
Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great- grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the BRITISH Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.
He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding.
Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.
And now we even have women over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to War when our nation calls us to do so.
Prayer:
Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.
When you read this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our ground troops in Afghanistan, sailors on ships, and airmen in the air, and for those in Iraq.
Of all the gifts you could give a British Soldier, Sailor, or Airman, A prayer is the very best one.
| A Question: |
The question we should all ask ourselves; how many of these young men and women that can hold their heads up high with pride, with us sharing their pride with them, will end up homeless on the streets where most people would not even give them the time of day.
Luckily there is not many of them compared to the number of ex serves personal, but we feel one is one too many, we intend to do the best we can with your help to help those in need. They did their best for us now it is our turn to do our best for them.
If you are an ex service personnel when you see an homeless person, think to yourself not there is a tramp, but he or she could be ex service personnel the same as you and there by the grace of god go I.
| Our weekend on the streets: |
We thought we would have to go looking for the homeless but the problem is at epidemic proportion and within minutes of arriving we had spoken the three homeless people that informed us of where to go and how to get a bed for the night. First you have to book into a shelter but you only have up to 5 30pm, but its best to book in by 4pm or you have got no chance! Secondly beg and raise £15 for B&B which is not a lot but think about it having to raise £15 everyday of the week. We changed our plan to beg as we felt we would be depriving those that need it most, we also did not look for any x forces instead we put up our card in a number of places for them to contact us, one place in particular that I went into was the sisters of mercy where the sisters showed me around and put our card up on their board and said they would have a word around for us! Second photo was taken by Chris from a doorway it shows the conditions the lads put up with and what the homeless people have to put up with when they cannot get shelter! |
Chris Robinson served for fourteen years in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps and eight years in the North Wales Police and is now a fundraiser with the new organisation Soldiers Off The Street (S.O.T.S), which has been set up to help ex servicemen and woman who for whatever reasons find themselves, living on the streets of Britain. Many of them leave the forces suffering from P.T.S.D (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). In this article Chris gives his account of how that feels having spent 3 days and 2 nights living on the streets of Swansea with his colleague Kenny Jones, also ex military who served with the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Statistics prove that 22% of homeless people on the streets of Britain are ex servicemen and women.
Friday 27th November 20097am Leave home for Swansea
7.45 am Pick up Bill Murray
9am Pick up Kenny Jones
2pm Arrive in Swansea and make way to railway station to meet camera crew, whilst at the station meet a man outside selling Big Issue, who tells us where we can find the homeless in Swansea and informs us of two hostels, one of which provides bed and breakfast (Sisters of Mercy) and the other a drop in centre where they can go during the day, these also provide lunch varying from soup to sandwiches.
4pm We arrive at the 'arches' underneath the railway station, where we speak to some of the homeless people who are drunk already from drinking cans of strong brew lager; the smell that hits the nostrils is of stale urine, the walls are dripping wet and it is a dank, dark and very dreary place. Every so often there is a loud rumble of the trains passing overhead and I am now beginning to wonder what I have let myself in for. I am approached by a young overweight girl with all her front teeth missing who shouts at me in an aggressive manner, "I have f****** known you for a long time, you stole my f****** car". I try to calm her down but she continues to be aggressive, and she is with approximately ten other homeless people of ages ranging from 16 to 50, so it is time to walk away as I now fear for our safety.
We make our way to visit the 'Sisters of Mercy' to chat with them about their work and are informed that they only have a small number of beds and the homeless need to check in by 5.30 pm latest; but many are turned away due to shortage of space and they are told to keep trying on a daily basis on the chance that a bed will become available.
Approx 6pm return to the arches and the camera crew and Bill depart leaving myself and Kenny alone; I decide to keep my mobile phone in case of emergencies. It is now that reality hits me as we are now completely on our own. We decide to stay near the bottom of the arches as the group of people we saw earlier were at the top (the arches were on a slope leading to the high street). Some of the gang came down to see us and were not happy that we were there as it is their patch, and it appeared that they did not want any strangers amongst them. I am now convinced that they are drugged up to the eyeballs and during the night would periodically come down to us, but never speak just look at us and walk away, I am now seriously becoming scared of the situation we are in and it is agreed by myself and Kenny we call Bill and the crew.
Approx 2am Bill and the crew turn up, and it is general concensous that it is too dangerous for us to stay at the arches any longer, so we make our way into the centre of Swansea to find a doorway to bed down in for the night. Bill and the crew being satisfied that we are safe once again depart. It has now begun raining heavily and we try our best to keep dry but it is impossible as the rain is driving down, which then turns to hail and the ground turns white. We managed to cat nap through the remainder of the night but by day break we are exhausted and dripping wet .We decided not to beg for money due to the fact that we would be taking money from the genuine homeless people, so Bill and the crew brought us a coffee and bacon sandwich for breakfast; you will never appreciate how good that felt unless placed in the situation we were in.
About 10 am we stood in the square handing out our leaflets to the shoppers but after an hour or so we were approached by a council official and told to stop as we had no permission to do so, Bill informed the official that we were not collecting money just handing out the leaflets but "Mr Jobsworth" was adamant we would stop as he stated in Swansea they have their own laws?! We therefore made our way to Tesco as it was private land and handed the leaflets out there instead.
What I noticed during the day was that people were staring at us and would walk on the opposite side of the road to where we were stood as we were dirty wet and probably smelt due to not washing, but when we gave them the leaflets and explained to them what we were up to they were more understanding. Of course you will always get one or two who don't care about anyone else but themselves. One in particular stands out in my mind was a man, who actually told me that he did not care about the servicemen in Afghanistan or those who were homeless; I was incensed at his attitude and lost my temper with him, probably due to the fact that I was tired, and having seen first hand for myself the effects of PTSD... but I make no apologies for my outburst to that selfish man.
The rest of today went without incident and by 7pm Kenny and I were back in our doorway for another long cold and wet night.
6am Picked up by Bill and taken to the camper van where Bill and the team had been staying for the weekend to enjoy a welcoming cup of hot coffee and to thank the crew for all their help over the weekend. We then said our goodbyes and the three of us made the long journey back to North Wales, stopping on the way for a hearty breakfast ...although to be honest I wasn't in the mood for it as I was still cold, wet and upset at what I had witnessed throughout the weekend.
For us it was an experience we will never forget and hope we will never be in that situation ever again. However by 2pm that afternoon I had returned home bathed, eaten and grabbed a couple of hours sleep in a warm clean bed, but unfortunately the reality is there are too many out there who will not be returning to their homes for such luxuries and we need to keep the flag flying for those people who are desperately in need of our help.
So what next for soldiers off the street? The Three Peaks Challenge? A walk from John O'Garas to Lands End? Whatever we do decide we will keep everyone updated on the website we need to raise as much money as we possibly can to help these poor souls, who have given so much for their country only to be forgotten on their return.
Written by Chris Robinson fundraiser for Soldiers Off The Street.
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