WWYD? Homeless outside house (diagram)

[NotUnusual]

Hi, (apologies for crap diagram)

NC for this. The past couple of days I've noticed a homeless couple who are clearly addicts sleeping in the communal street bin corner directly opposite my house. They are cuddled up between 2 bins day and night, surrounded by drug paraphernalia. I got such a fright the first noticed, when I put the bin out yesterday and saw a pair of legs between the 2 black bins. This was at 12pm and they were still there at 4pm when I went to do the school run. Today they are still there.

I'm really concerned and dont know what to do. I'm selfishly more worried for me and DC than them as they are surrounded by needles and stuff. I'm trying to avoid putting any rubbish out, am triple checking doors are locked and banning DC from playing outside. I know it's wrong and it's obviously the state of the world at the moment for the homeless but I naively assumed they took refuge in the woods or shop doorways etc but to be lying between bins in Broad day light where kids live and play I just feel so anxious. Please don't pile on me, I know my thinking is wrong and self-centered

HELP!!

Report them here
https://thestreetlink.org.uk/

They'll try to help

Had a similar problem recently OP.

Police don’t care, you can log it but they don’t seem arsed. Last time I pointed a homeless, unconscious semi-naked man collapsed across a tube station entrance - the policeman reluctantly prodded him with his shoe, and on confirming he was alive that was it.

So - best course of action is your local councillor. There great for these kinds of issues. They may be able to identify the right services to help / be at the right people to find a solution .

You are not being a horrible person and your concerns are valid.

https://homeless.org.uk/homeless-england/ has good advice.

Speak to your local homelessness/ housing office. They will have details of what services are available in your area to help them.

It seems to be becoming "normal" unfortunately. I know in Glasgow junkies getting into people's closes to shoot up is common and the police do nothing.

I'd be really worried about them, trying to get some help for them, and possibly having a chat with them to find out what they need. They're people, OP - they might be scary and aggressive and awful people but they are quite likely not to be (based on all my anecdata of having conversations with homeless people) and you won't know until you've talked to them. (I fully admit that they're very likely to be a bit mad but that's different and no barrier to a pleasant and sometimes entertaining chat.) They're in an awful situation, and most of us in the UK are a lot closer to homelessness than we'd like to imagine.

If that's too much or if the vibes are truly really threatening rather than just unexpectedly alarming, Streetlink are a good shout as above.

Yanbu. No one, absolutely no one, wants to come out of their home with their children to see two drug addicts and their paraphernalia lying around.

I'd be really worried about them, trying to get some help for them, and possibly having a chat with them to find out what they need

Please don't do this op. It's not your problem

I really don't want to approach them at all, I'm a lone parent with small children, one being only 6 weeks old. They are literally a stone throw from my home, directly opposite my house (approx 20 to 30 steps). Im literally stressing if its safe to go run a bin bag out, never mind purposely going out to speak to them. If they were to become aggressive or anything there would literally be nothing I could do to protect myself or my home, given they would obviously know which house I came out of. I'm also worrying about going out and leaving my home unattended.

I feel really horrible because their situation isn't great and I really shouldn't be judging at all and thinking they may be aggressive druggies or attempt to burgle me or something but I've had family members who have been addicts and on the streets so I know how very unpredictable they can be.

Contact your local council they’ll have a Homelessness/ Housing solutions team.

Theyll be a circle of people aware of homes sleds people generally including social services, housing team, police etc

Second the recommendation for streetlink. You can also check your local council website, they may have local services specific to your area where you can report that you are worried about someone sleeping rough.

They are people, and deserve support - but that needs to come from specialist services, not you. Being addicts does not mean they're bad people, but addiction can cause people to do bad things, ifyswim. It isn't something you should try and deal with yourself.

Totally agree with @Comedycook

Do not approach them as there are so many potential scenarios that could end up very badly for you.

Contact the relevant authorities.

They are probably just there because it's presumably safer for themselves than on a high street or rough estate? So try and take a bit of comfort in that at least but you aren't a horrible person for being concerned at all.
I'd see if your local church has any teams that could help them.

I have not led a very sheltered life, but I have never seen homeless people in as bad a state as
the last year or so.

Junkies living on the street. Often living in piles of rubbish, the ground black underneath them. Often semi-dressed, no shoes, unconscious.

I report stuff ALL THE TIME and no one seems to care. Got a message from the police ‘call an ambulance if you’re worried’ on reporting a man living in a pile of rotting food in a touristy central London location.

Police don’t care, hospitals aren’t set up
to manage them, homeless charities don’t seem to deal with addicts.

The total lack of empathy from the police I have managed to engage has been bleak. As long as they aren’t dead, they aren’t going to do anything.

It isn't the OP's job to chat to them and find out what they need. They either don't know or are incapable of sustaining any of that right now, the poor people are living by some bins surrounded by drug paraphernalia. OP I'd call the council to report the drug paraphernalia littered on the floor, 101 to log drug use and street link or any local homeless charities. Their situation is sad but you should be able to let the kids out to play and comfortably but your rubbish out

If they're literally shooting up in the street call police.

They wont be interested....a friend who is 74 had a naked man in front garden passed out with syringe in leg and crack pipe in hand...police told her it was not an emergency !!

YANBU. Report them on the links given here. They need help and the needles left around are sever risk for children passing.

OP - I used to work on a detox programme for drug addicts for years, I was made redundant under David Cameron’s gov! There are now very few programmes around the country that deal with addicts! The Tory’s cut them all! As a result they are now all on the street.
Is the paraphernalia they’re leaving on the floor needles? If so please report this to the council/ local councillor, get any neighbours you know to do the same. Keep repeating that it’s a health and safety issue.
In my experience I have never been attacked by an addict, this is not me trying to convince you to engage with them, just trying to settle your nerves.
I would say however your concern over burglary could be correct, just don’t leave any opportunities. It will mostly be items they can sell quickly on the street or at a pawn shop. Gold, small electrical items etc.
I am sorry I have no advice about moving them on, the police will not care. Your only hope is that they take the offer of help from a service near you.

What do you want the police to do? Arrest them?

Check online who your local councillor is, might be more than one. Just Google find my local councillor X town.

There was a couple living in the communal bin house where I used to live. There were no needles or anything like that though, they were very polite and left first thing in the morning. I felt so sorry for them that I just let them be. There were several homeless shelters in the area but it’s really hard for couples like that because they have to go to separate male/ female shelters and they want to stay together. I would have reported it to the management company if the circumstances were different. It was a private apartment complex. Who owns/ maintains the bin house? That’s who you need to contact.
I know my sister had the exact same problem where she lived and unfortunately it is really hard to stop people from doing this.

Thank you those so far for the advice. It's the council who maintains and owns the bin area, my home is private rent though so I'm not sure if that makes any difference. Unfortunately there was a gang of them (around 6-7) right outside my door this morning for 2 hours so I'm very wary to even leave the house today, especially when I know they are there. I'm also worried that people are going to think I'm involved with this as they literally stood/sat outside my backdoor (directly faces on to the road, no garden).

It is abit extreme but if there is literally no where to remove this issue, should I look at some home security measures? I'm even considering looking to move, but what's to say this issue won't be an issue elsewhere, which is very likely at the moment. I'm just so anxious and feel like I'm trapped in my own home, by default I'm also trapping my DC inside too because of this.

If they not actively committing a crime, what do you expect the police to do? They're not social workers and 'moving them along' so you don't have to look at them is a massive waste of their time.

I can totally understand you being concerned.

Definitely contact Streetlink. They won't know it's you that has contacted them and also contact your local Councillor as previously suggested about the needles.

I don't think being extra vigilant will hurt either, so don't leave windows open, that kind of thing

A few people have said to approach them, see if they need something, do not do that, just report them. When I lived in London we had the same issue, a drug addict/homeless man was squatting very close to our house and I would see him in the mornings when walking to work. Someone gave me the same advice and one day he tried to get me to come and talk to him and kept moving along the back of the house. I told him no and tried to keep walking, making sure I stayed in public view and finally he gave up. He was so creepy I wanted to report him and spoke to a few people but was told nothing can be done. Then a few days later another girl actually followed him, he raped her at knifepoint and killed her. It was all over the news. I know it's not a super likely scenario, but it's not worth it. Keep your distance, these people are dangerous.