the Pavement relies on donations and volunteering from individuals and companies... more...
the Pavement
in London and Scotland.
We are committed to publishing objective reportage, tailored to a homeless readership, and to publicising the complete range of services available to homeless people, to reduce hardship amongst our readers and to enable them to guide their future.
We believe that drives to produce homogenous services for homeless people are misguided, and that a range of service types and sizes are the only way to cater successfully for our diverse readership.
We believe that sleeping rough is physically and mentally harmful; however, we do not preach to those who chosen to, nor do we believe that all options to get off the streets are necessarily beneficial to long-term health and happiness.
Your rights
The Rights Guide for Rough Sleepers outlines your rights around arrest, stop and search, answering police questions, move-ons, no-drinking zones, sleeping rough, taking a pee in public and highway obstruction. It was put together by The Pavement, Housing Justice, Liberty and Zacchaeus 2000.
volunteer
If you are a journalist with some free time to research and write stories for the magazine, please contact Cat (London) or Karen (Scotland). If you can help deliver the magazine one day a month, please contact Richard Burdett (London) or Karen (Scotland).
current issue
In this issue
· Is street drinking putting a strain on the NHS?
· Food not Bombs founder interview
· Hospital discharge still a problem
· Homeless decoys
· Not one but TWO princes!
London edition
Download Issue 49
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Scottish edition
Download Issue 15
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05 March 2010
'A brush from the street' is back! Local homeless artists' work is on again at Chelsea Gallery, in the Old Town Hall (map), from 9 to 14 March. Opening hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - 9.30am-8pm; Wednesday, Friday, Saturday - 9.30am-5pm; Sunday - 1pm-5pm. Get down there - the paintings are great!05 February 2010
Praxis is running a free English (ESOL, beginning and pre-intermediate) course for Tower Hamlets residents. CV preparation, interview techniques and advice about the UK labour market. Call Fabricio on 020 7749 7617 or email Fabricio@praxis.org.uk. Travel expenses will be reimbursed.Free English course...
05 February 2010
We now have a Twitter account (http://twitter.com/thepavementmag), so follow us for news for and about homeless men and women in the UK.Meet and tweet The Pavement!...
Happy birthday, Providence Row
Staff, 04 March 2010
Providence Row, based in London's East End, is marking its 150th birthday in 2010.
Founded in 1860 by Father Daniel Gilbert after he had met a homeless woman and her children in east London, and with the help of the Sisters of Mercy, the first non-sectarian night shelter in London was designed to help homeless and destitute people regardless of religion or race.
Even as the East End has changed over the 150 years since it opened its doors, the charity's mission has remained the same: "To help people find their pathway out of homelessness." Today the team runs two day centres, the Dellow and Satellite Centre.
Providence Row will host a series of events celebrating its work in 2010, including a day for its regulars at the end of June, with a free barbecue and music.
Jo Anstell, the chief executive of Providence Row, told The Pavement: "150 years is real milestone, something to be proud of. We are looking back, remember where we have come from, but also looking to the future, evolving and improving to meet people's changing needs."
More stories from the latest issue...
Rough sleepers take part in archaeological dig
Rebecca Evans, 03 March 2010
A team of homeless people have taken part in a "ground-breaking" archaeological dig in Bristol.
The excavation at Turbo Island, a busy traffic island in the heart of Bristol, was undertaken with the help of English Heritage, Avon and Somerset Police and students from the University of Bristol.
The dig was part of a wider project looking into heritage and contemporary homelessness, funded by the Council of British Archaeology.
English Heritage said the excavation was designed to "engage" with homeless people and those who have a "marginalised existence in society" in the archæological process.
Turbo Island has been frequented by homeless people for at least 40 years. The inspiration for the dig arose from conversations between homeless people, English Heritage archæologist John Schofield and Rachael Marmite, a Bristol-based urban archaeologist.
Mr Schofield explained: "This was archaeology at its very best - involving people who really wanted to be there, and who embraced the opportunity with great enthusiasm and good humour. Heritage can and should be for everyone, as this ongoing project has demonstrated."
Ms Marmite added: "This project managed to break down barriers and got homeless and non-homeless people together to achieve a common goal. We braved torrential rain, snow and mud worthy of Glastonbury to discover secrets from the history of Bristol's finest cultural quarter."
The site is said to be a place where pirates were once hanged and the location of a bombed WWII building.
Smiler, one of the homeless people who took part in the project, said: "It was an opportunity that doesn't come round very often. I learned about dating pottery and about dating beer can rings - they changed in 1980 to the push-in ones, which gives you a period of time. Little things like that were really useful to know. We are looking at being involved in another dig in the same place in the summer."
The results of the dig will be presented in spring with a series of lectures and an exhibition.
More stories from the latest issue...
Cardboard contest
Staff, 04 March 2010
It seems that sleeping out to raise money for rough sleepers is all the rage, both sides of the Atlantic. A week doesn't go by without a report of a group taking their camping gear onto the streets to raise funds for homeless organisations
However, the YMCA in Watford, Hertfordshire, added to this established fundraising formula, running a competition for the "Best DressedCardboard Box." The event held at Watford Football Club on 26 February, dubbed the 'Sleep Easy', promoted itself with the competition, which had a hot water bottle as first prize.
More stories from the latest issue...
