Mick Norman was one of the last to leave the streets in Stratford when plans to provide safe accommodation for all homeless people came into force at the start of lockdown in March.

Eight months later, Mick says he has turned his life around, and it is thanks to his new home – the hotel room where he plans to stay, even after the Covid arrangements are due to come to an end in March next year.

He told Newham Voices:

This is the best thing that has happened to me after years of living on the streets, taking drugs and spells in prison. I was reluctant at first, I was the last person to leave the streets, but I looked at the room and thought ‘this is actually not bad, it’s bigger than a prison cell and I’ve got en suite facilities’. It has given me the opportunity to get my life together.

Mick admits that previously he would offend to get back into prison so that he had a roof over his head and somewhere to detox. But now home for Mick is City View Hotel in Stratford, not far from where he used to sleep rough. He has been ‘clean’ of drugs since March and is expecting to get paid work in the new year working with a Havering charity that supports people who now need the same opportunities that Mick has been given.

“It is amazing what can happen when the money is there. No one should have to go back on the streets. We have seen what a difference it makes to people’s lives.”

Mick already works informally with a number of drugs, alcohol and homeless charities in Newham and Havering as well as taking the initiative himself to help people who are newly homeless to get what they need to survive in their new circumstances. He says his own experiences often make it easier for him to connect with people, and he is happy to play that role.

He is particularly concerned about the lack of support for people leaving prisons and wants to see a much better approach. He would ideally like to help create a new city for people who have been homeless.

You can’t turn your life around when you have nowhere to live. We are seeing that during Covid. People can get their lives together and then many of them will use their experience to volunteer with others. It has to be a better way.

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