Pretty

Everywhere in Oxford there are people living and sleeping on the streets. In doorways, under colonnades, in underpasses, in tents by the river... And now on deck chairs. Sometimes they die there too.

Officially, the number of homeless people in Oxfordshire, one of the richest counties in the UK, has almost tripled in the last six years.

Normally I don't photograph them - it feels objectifying - but this week we had a budget in which the chancellor announced that the 'era of austerity is finally coming to an end'. So in honour of that statement, however smug and self-serving I believe it to be, here's just one person who deserves help. Among far, far too many.

I happened to be on my way to see a play this evening in the building of one of the organisations that supports homeless people in Oxford, right opposite this deck chair. The receptionist told me it's been here at least since she took up her job a month ago, probably longer. Start here, Hammond. Or, if you prefer, in Liverpool, London, Brighton, Birmingham, Leeds, Slough, Bristol, Coventry, Reading, Newcastle, Manchester or anywhere else ... Just make sure you get here too before the temperature drops another 5 degrees.

Edit: This is Chad and this space has been his home for three years.