Sheryl

Meet Sheryl.

Roughly 1 in 4 homeless people are women and the number is on the rise. Women like Sheryl are confronted with their own unique set of problems - sexual assault (statistics from Crisis indicate nearly 1 in 4 women has been sexually assaulted in the last year alone), lack of access to feminine hygiene products and an increased risk of physical violence / intimidation. Sheryl - like so many others - has recently had her belongings stolen, and with them what few spare clothes and toiletries she owned. She’s desperate to have a wash but tells me she has been turned away from emergency accommodation on several occasions now - this too is a familiar story.

Sheryl is at least sporting a ‘new’ pair of trainers that have been donated to her - “they’re a size too big but at least protect my feet” she says. Sadly not all of her is as well protected - she shows me a deeply inflamed right hand (we don’t shake hands when we meet at her request). She’s picked up an infection earlier in the year when the weather was bitingly cold and it’s not had a chance to recover: “the cold was crucifying - when I was trying to make a rollie it was like knives stabbing my arm all up and down”.

Similar to many others on the streets Sheryl’s story starts just like one’s own. She was permanently employed and surrounded by friends before, unfortunately, she befell an amphetamine addiction and from there her life quickly spiralled. Not so much, however, that Sheryl can’t make a joke about losing her teeth to Speed, followed quickly by a cheeky, gummy smile. Now that she’s on the streets she takes Spice - the drug induces mental blackouts which help to dull her pain of being homeless.

She has now been on the streets for several years and bemoans her fall from a normal existence, not to mention what she sees as the perceived ineffectiveness of the council in supporting the homeless. But Sheryl is made a tough stuff and continues to smile away as we talk, and looks her happiest at the camera for me. As I leave she offers her hand to me - it may hurt but she hasn’t forgotten to be polite.