Homelessness crisis: Ian Harrison’s 20-year struggle laid bare

Sixteen years ago, Ian Harrison was filmed begging for money in Covent Garden with homelessness. In the 2008 footage, a 19-year-old Ian, fresh-faced and recently evicted, speaks to the camera about his intent to take as many drugs as possible for a temporary escape from his problems. “I want to get so far gone, all my problems go away, just for tonight,” he says.

Now 35, Ian watches this old film, blinking slowly and sighing heavily. His younger self then remarks, “Nothing changes, only time, and the people I’m begging from.” Ian nods, acknowledging the truth in those words. “He is right. Look where I am now!” he says. Ian remains homeless, his face bearing the marks of years spent on the streets and his ongoing battle with heroin and crack addiction.

Despite having temporary accommodation in a hostel, Ian’s life teeters on the same precarious edge it did years ago. His homelessness began in the late 2000s, during the Blair/Brown era, when efforts to reduce rough sleeping had seen significant success. However, the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn led to a steady increase in homelessness over the next decade. The pandemic briefly reduced numbers as efforts were made to get people off the streets, but homelessness is now at a peak again. Last year, Ian was among 11,993 rough sleepers in London, the highest number ever recorded in the city.

Homelessness is peaking again and last year Ian was among 11,993 rough sleepers in London – the highest ever recorded in the capital.

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Labour’s deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, criticised the situation as “shameful” and has taken on the task of addressing it. She will lead a new cross-government taskforce, reminiscent of Tony Blair’s approach, which focused on tackling the root causes of homelessness. This holistic approach is something Ian finds lacking today.

Ian’s single room at the hostel is cluttered with rubbish, stained walls, and buzzing flies, resembling the cardboard box he once lived in under the Hammersmith flyover. Having grown up in care, Ian struggles with basic life skills. “I never had parents to say brush your teeth, get in the shower do this, do that. When you grow up into an adult, you don’t have that stuff,” he explains.

Though he is currently off drugs and has a methadone prescription, Ian finds stability elusive in his current environment. “It’s hard to be stable in a place like this, because it’s a very unstable place to be in,” he says. Living with 26 other addicts in the hostel makes it difficult to avoid relapse. Ian feels the support he receives is insufficient, lacking in essential self-care guidance and therapy.

Ian’s unresolved trauma from years of sexual, mental, and physical abuse has never been properly addressed. “They say you need therapy, but to get the therapy you need to be completely clean of drugs and alcohol for a couple of years. But that’s part of the illness, it’s part of the symptoms of the illness,” he says.

Ms Rayner’s cross-department team faces the challenging task of transforming the lives of people like Ian, a costly but necessary endeavour. The Sky News producer who filmed Ian in 2008 has witnessed his cycle of homelessness, hostel stays, and mental institution visits, only for him to end up back on the streets. “I’ve been stuck in a merry-go-round for 20 years,” Ian says. “I become homeless, get into a hostel, become homeless. You give up.”

When asked what his 19-year-old self would have hoped for in his 30s, Ian responds, “To be honest, I thought I’d be dead by now. And I wouldn’t have cared if I was.” But now, Ian does care. A wish list on his hostel wall reads: “Stop using all drugs, save up more cash, care 4 self better, start up business, go to gym, get routine, have camping holiday.” To achieve these goals, Ian will need the kind of support that has eluded him for most of his life.