We don't notice our world changing around us, because those little shifts take place so gradually. Attitudes are altered one decision, one blind eye turned, one 'I accept' at a time, until a situation that would have seemed unthinkable ten, twenty, thirty years ago, becomes the norm. I've been pondering this a lot over the past few days, since I walked past the usual mile-long queue outside our local food bank, and thought, hang on a minute. When did this happen? When I was a kid, I knew food banks existed but had never seen one. The UK's first opened in 2004; I googled it so you don't have to. Now they're in every town, as normal a feature of our urban landscape as Nu-Mart and BettaBargains, but still they're not government funded. They rely on charities, and people like me who dump a packet of Nu-Mart Pasta 'n' Sauce in the donations basket when we do our weekly shop. One ponder led to another, and 'why so many food banks?' got me thinking about Hope Villages. Since the first one, four years ago, they've popped up all over the country. Sounds cosy, doesn't it? Hope Village. Rosy-cheeked kiddies and lovingly tended gardens. A smiling vicar walking his dog, and pots of jam with gingham covers over the lids. The reality is somewhat less appealing. The 'Villages' are estates of warehouse-like structures to house the homeless, with nary a jar of apple and blackberry preserves in sight. Not so long ago, the less fortunate of our nation―of which there are said to be over two million―were part of the scenery in any town. You'd see them slumped in shop doorways, sitting blank-eyed on park benches, begging outside supermarkets and cafés. Queueing outside the shelters. There are two shelters near us: Horizon, and a Roof. Roof Charity has opened many, all over the country, in the past decade. I walk past and try not to stare at the bewildered faces of those who have only recently fallen this far and are trying their best to cling to 'normality', alongside the long-termers, their dead eyes staring at the ground. Over the last four years, however, most of the homeless have been tidied away into Hope Villages.
Terry Tyler is the author of nineteen books available from Amazon, the latest being ‘Hope’, a dystopian, psychological drama set in the UK, a decade into the future. She is currently at work on ‘Blackthorn’, a post-apocalyptic stand-alone story set in her fictional city of the same name. Proud to be independently published, Terry is an avid reader and book reviewer, and a member of Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team. Terry is a Walking Dead addict, and has a great interest in history (particularly 14th-17th century), and sociological/cultural/anthropological stuff, generally. She loves South Park, Netflix, autumn and winter, and going for long walks in quiet places where there are lots of trees. She lives in the north east of England with her husband.
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