Friday, November 17, 2006

Phone call to the CEO of St Mungo’s

Last night was quiet - no visit from the police. We usually get up at 6am. I tidy up (roll the sleeping bags, etc.), whilst Declan piles the cardboard to return to the nearby skip. I find it so amusing to watch him pile the cardboard in groups of the same size - anybody walking past sees neat piles of cardboard stacked along the wall. Declan says it's easier to carry it all in one go, but I know he loves organising things.

After breakfast in the Whitechapel Mission, we arrived at the gates of the Dellow Centre at 9.15am, only to be told that the centre was closed because of a flooding. (Did somebody put a stopper in the sink and then forget to turn off the water?) All the homeless thought there was something fishy going on. I, too, have my own opinion on the matter; but, after losing my bet with Declan the night before last, I'm not saying anything.

I rely on the Dellow Centre to clean my teeth, wash and apply a touch of make-up. (I had a very nice collection of make-up products by MAC, Stila, Prescriptives, Bobbi Brown, etc. which I had to dump on my first day homeless in London, together with all my Origins range of facial care.) From now on, I am going to do all my pampering in the Whitechapel Mission. You can't even rely on the Dellow Centre to open Monday to Friday from 9.15am to 11.30am.

We were on our way to the library when Declan decided to phone the chief executive of St Mungo's (a Catholic organisation) for the referral we need for a night shelter. The Dellow Centre will not put in another request on our behalf to have our St Mungo's Contact and Assessment Team (CAT) visit us again at our patch because, according to the Dellow, our CAT has told them there is nothing they can do for us. Declan has already phoned the CAT to inform them that we are still at our patch waiting for the referral. If Declan wasn't pursuing this CAT, the police would have moved us on by now.

The first time Declan tries to get through to St Mungo's CEO Charles Fraser, he is told nobody is in the office; not even his PA, Linda Lockyer. He is asked what his call is about and is passed to complaints. After providing someone in complaints with background information, Declan is told he will be phoned back at the public phone from which he made the call, but this never happens. Declan has to phone again, this time asking to be put straight through to Lockyer's voice mail. He leaves a message for Fraser to the effect that if St Mungo's dereliction of duty in relation to us is to continue, he will be inquiring as to where he should take his complaint. Prior to that last part of the message, Declan provides him with his name and patch address, and confirms that we were visited and verified as rough sleepers almost two weeks ago but nobody from St. Mungo's has visited us since then.

The cost of the phone calls came to almost £3.00.