Memories of London Continued

I feel tired when I think about London, it is a blur, after a week or two I was settled to sleeping in a certain area, about ten minutes walk to Waterloo, I alternated between the the park bushes and the corner of a building site, where I had to be careful not to be caught, and had to move early in the morning so that the builders didn't catch me.
I learned that treasure hunting on waterloo station was always fruitful, dropped money, travelcards, half eaten food, stickers for cups of tea, one day I found an area round the side of the station, by mcD's where loads of people left their cups, which was excellent because I had no money and needed a cup of tea urgently, I got almost enough stickers for two cups of tea, and the next day when I went back there there was a McD's employee sitting there and he helped me look for stickers, I had thought he was going to tell me to go away!

Settled into London as best I could, my sister was a great support but she is extremely extremely lively and and energetic and I am exhausted and close to collapse, I can't keep walking and doing things with her, amd this causes problems, like when she decided to take me into Camden Market, a horrifically crowded enclosed space, I fled, and a few minutes later my damaged ankle resoundingly crunched and I ended up in Casualty at UCL hospital - well, so far I have done the Maudsley and Kings College, now UCL, the ankle is just doing it's usual thing, all that can be done for it is painkillers and a bandage.

I learned that it is always possible to get food and drinks at the strand in the evening, but it is a battle with the immigrants to get anything, it is not worth going to Lincolns Inn Fields because that is even worse, the occasional handouts at Temple and Waterloo are alright though.

I have three daycentres that I go to, the one I went to when i arrived in London, one where I can always get a shower and usually some free athletes foot into the bargain, and a third daycentre run by a Christian organization, I become part of a Bible study group through this one, and get on well with the staff and find the centre very helpful if a bit crowded during drop in times.

I discover the Central London Samaritans, they are good in that they provide a hot drink while you wait to see someone, but it can be a long wait sometimes, I think they have staffing issues, one day after waiting for nearly an hour, I phoned the Samaritans and walked out and talked to them on the phone, I am not great on the phone, but since August, when things got so much worse for me, I have regularly phoned the Samaritans and other freephone numbers in the evening to help me cope with the distress.

I look for more help in London, and despite it being a big city it is difficult to find any support, I register with a homeless healthcare centre when my feet get very sore, there is an excellent nurse there who washes my feet in potassuim permanganate and bandages them very well and carefully and gives me clean socks and says she will find me a pair of boots as mine are worn out and it seems like nowhere in London has boots.

I really need a sleeping bag, so I walk all the way to the community that does the soup runs in order to get one, they give me a lovely sleeping bag, and I decide on an illegal camp out on Hampstead Heath as it is too far to walk back to my area, I walk up and I am hungry, I see a church, I am tired and dizzy, I go into the church, I chose the right time, this is a church connected with a brotherhood of monks, Dominicans, who are hosting a party for 50 young Catholics who are off to Portugal tonight for world youth week or something, they are going to meet the Pope there, and so there is a party before they go and the monks invite me to the party! it is only a very simple party, but I end up very well fed.
Then they go off on the pilgrimage and I walk up to the Heath, I phone my Catholic friend and tell her all about it, she thinks it is all great.
On the heath I hide in the undergrowth and settle down, I watch the police patrolling and looking for rough sleepers, they never spot me and I sleep well until 4am in the morning when pouring rain wakes me, I am in a lot of distress from bad memories when I get up and leave the wet sleeping bag and start walking back into the city, I really really need someone to hear what has happened to me and help me.
On the way I am blessed to pass the Royal Free Hospital, I pop in and use their toilets and have a wash, as i come out of the toilets I meet a police woman and I jump in fright and then we both look sheepish, she isn't after me, she is attending casualty and needed the loo.
I walk through Camden town, on the way I stop and lean on a wall, a man comes up to me and says 'Is there a cashpoint near here?' there is a cashpoint right by where I am standing, but the man is a bit drunk. he continues to stagger up and down the street asking for directions to things, I love Camden town!

I arrived in London when the riots started -nothing to do with me! And I remember walking through Camden with my sister, there was a man with a megaphone berating the looters, I walked over to him and asked him what he was doing, he checked my shoes to see if I had looted them and commented into his megaphone that my shoes were 'Too scruffy to have been stolen' and continued his conversation with us into his megaphone, advising me to loot Harrods and not the pound shop 'make it worth it'.
I would never loot anywhere.