I investigate CRISIS on UK STREETS – Battle in Bournemouth

Bournemouth is the largest town in the county of Dorset on the south coast of the UK, The BCP (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) area is a region with some shocking statistics including having more homeless people on the streets than anywhere else in the UK outside of London and having some of the biggest differences in wealth to be found in the UK, but another crisis is griping the streets of Bournemouth leading to a wave of negative media coverage and the area being labelled a ‘Zombie’ Town!

Here are some of those headlines:

Parts of BCP in top percent of most deprived areas in UK:
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/23099379.census-2021-deprived-areas-bcp-revealed/

Boscombe being named among Worst Places in the UK:
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18991548.boscombe-named-one-worst-towns-uk/

Bournemouth county lines gang problems:
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/16993750.police-tackling-county-lines-gangs-dorset/

one of many articles about county lines streets gangs in Bournemouth:
https://www.dorset.live/news/dorset-news/five-jailed-100k-county-lines-7850756

In this UK documentary I investigate a crisis sweeping across UK streets, a crisis that has the USA in the grips of an epidemic on the streets are we about to see the same on these British Shores? After receiving a number of comments and messages asking me to visit Bournemouth a quick google searched revealed a number of shocking headlines about “Zombie” town, I headed to the streets of Bournemouth to investigate for myself if indeed the headlines are correct! Whilst in Bournemouth I interviewed a number of those worst affected and spent time with a leading charity to better understand the issues at play!

#crime #britain #uk #reallife #england #documentary #poverty

If you want to support the vital work the charity featured in this video are doing check them out on the link below!

QR code at end of video or Google search: We Are Humans Bournemouth

We Are Humans Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3717410844973029/

A massive thank you to them and the people featured in this video!

today I’m in Bournemouth the largest town in the county of Dorset like many towns around the UK Bournemouth and the surrounded areas find themselves struggling with a number of problems a huge lack of social housing massive cuts to funding and Sky High living costs combine this with some of the highest rates of rough sleepers substance abuse mortalities and antisocial Behavior to be found anywhere in the UK this has led to a wave of negative headlines such as iconic UK Seaside town with no go zones and locals too scared to go out after dark bosam a suburb of Bournemouth being labeled the substance capital of the South and in a recent study it stated the BCP area has the highest rough sleeping homeless numbers outside of London shockingly since this data was compiled over a year ago the number of rough sleepers has more than doubled in this documentary you spend time with a leading charitable organization in the area battling these issues and hit the streets of Bournemouth and the surrounding suburb of bosum which has been labeled the substance capital of the South to find out if they live up to the headlines you can see the boarded up Windows on the abandoned building that lays next to my hotel I was in that room last night and I could hear numerous voices screams and shouts coming from this building here I’m now heading over to one of the leading charitable organizations in the area we are humans this organization is tackling the homeless crisis this ongoing head on on the short 10-minute walk to the charity headquarters from my hotel the signs of deprivation were clear to to see there was numerous tents and signs of rough sleeping often coupled with substance abuse paraphernalia closed shops and abandoned buildings Lin the roads on the outskirts and there was many people on the streets clearly under the influence of substances within 20 minutes of arriving I witnessed an overdose and Revival on the streets of boson hello brother so tell me tell me what your story is my name is Steven Smith showers yeah my father’s name’s deloy show right I come from La Liverpool yeah we do stuff like that and we do stuff like that and furthermore we’re talking this for life but the worst thing about it is that no one appreciates our service lza [ __ ] walking around in wheelchairs sitting about on their Prosthetics back to front right spunking their GID on crack smack and all that lot in this country furthermore mate all I need to say if you can’t make it in Bournemouth than [ __ ] you’re not in [ __ ] Brooklyn or New York City but I’m not the smartest but it’s been a pleasure to I don’t know if the camera can pick it up but there’s been a lot of screaming and shouting coming from one of those flat Windows where the police is outside now as I arrived at at the charity offices I was met by a couple who had just arrived at the charity that morning they kindly agreed to tell me their story however within less than a minute one of the people I was interviewing heard cries of help coming from across the road without hesitation he ran to the scene to assist in what turned out to be a substance overdose on folding is he OD he is is it drug problem we’ve seen him earlier today wandering around and he was stumbling all over the place really as you can see this seems to be a regular occurrence there’s a man has passed out on the street it seems to be odan they’re calling the police now and the ambulance service this is right outside of the we are humans charitable organization it just brings it home how real the situation is here on the streets of Bournemouth you see the police are just turned up now see the man still passed out in the doorway they don’t know if it’s substance or if it’s alcohol ready absolutely nuts this just brings it a light how real this is here Bournemouth over the years has seen a massive rise in the rates of substance abuse and the issues associated with this Bournemouth now finds itself having some of the highest numbers of sub substance associated mortalities in the country there are many causes of this but a potential leading factor is the huge increase of fentanyl lace substances and other synthetic substances like spice and crystal meth that are now flooding UK streets these substances have wreaked havoc in the USA are we about to see the same on these Shores yeah he’s got a heartbeat he’s breathing yeah put him in recovery position even though he did want to I took with his head back I tried to get him communicate KN his eyes just rolling back so just SE the Poli yeah he got L next and stinks of alcohol he smells like spice spice did you say smells like sp sp done yeah the ambulance and get him to the hospital as I maybe can drive by no no no did he yeah I saw them back up yeah yeah sorry about that the video I se minute arrested what he on they got him up right now well the police are with him now and the gentleman that I was just interviewing went over and saved the day luckily luckily you’re there mate how lucky that you were here now to his back he was he refusing I just grabbed drag him down I I pull you downwards cuz it’s a slope naturally going to go your back crazy that’s that’s that’s another show of humanity out there is somebody who talk about Charities that are supposed to help straight up on his feet across the road he he was quick as anything in this town yeah on the High Street a lot nor out moved it on because I don’t have it there but yeah it’s a massive spice prop get around at the moment it’s com influx mostly spice is it to see it’s really awful that’s what they’re doing they’re getting Drunk On the Alcohol and they’re smoking C amounts of that and it’s just pure chemicals cond anything like that amount of spikes their behavior they become and then and then they pass out and they can pass out anywhere headline was they called the place Zombie Town yeah and coming back to this is what this is going to end up being if this isn’t because we’re punishing the people rather than helping them and actually getting to the Sol problem this is why this charity needs a massive shout out because they want to help they don’t want to judge you they for the first time I actually felt like a normal human being I didn’t felt like people were looking down at me because I was on hard times and for the first time in ages it felt nice just to be seen as a human being rather than just another number homeless or you’re struggling at any point please go and look up this charity we are humans look up please look it up if you are struggling yes awesome thank you so much for your time today and you my man get on her are the streets here being a human being there you go mate the kindness from one person to another even just a simple smile that has Chain Reaction so please anything you can do a smile a small gesture it literally brightens everybody’s day my first morning in Bournemouth really brought to life the severity of the situation on the streets one thing that was clear was the warmth and kindness I felt from Jamal and Cathy and just how much this organization we are humans means this community we headed inside to see the tent and other items donated to the couple by the charity and arranged for me to head over to their tent later on that evening to see the harsh conditions an ex veteran and his pregnant partner Now find themselves in I hate to ask but I need your help more than ever when I film content like this please remember to like comment and subscribe it really does help the video gain traction and go out to a wider audience with topics like this it’s so important that as many people see this video as possible and with your help we can do that you just touched on then that there’s a there’s a number of substances that have hit the streets of Bournemouth and bosam now a number of those will be a shocker to my audience you mentioned you mentioned meth then meth with fre math really um uh and as you’ve just touched on you’re 20 years clean now so would touch with a bar good man I am in the situ you know it’s because I’m hom I’m in situation I see people getting absolutely you know in El State I don’t because I like been there you know I know that it’s not the right path saying is trying to stay on the um straight and narrow straight and narrow definitely mate would you say you’ve seen a rise in um overdoses I I lost three people through overdoses that I knew very well but I lost three good mies but you can verify that there is now crystal meth has arrived on the shores of the UK absolutely absolutely wow 100% which is uh yeah worrying to see very worrying mate very worrying mate keep up keep up doing what you’re doing mate keep your chin up as well yeah that’s right yeah yeah I’m strong I you know I won’t do get back into that good man fair play boss another increasing problem is the county lines epidemic with Bournemouth being heavily affected county lines is where gangs from bigger cities Target small and mediumsized towns across local Authority boundaries this is usually carried out by children or vulnerable people who are coerced into it by organized criminal groups the county line is the mobile phone lines and people that are linked to organized groups that run this illegal trade I’ve just received a text message from the couple that we spoke to earlier letting me know they’ve set up camp for the night so let’s head over and find out how they live but first things first let’s pick up some pizza and some water and take it with us we’ve got the pizzas I’ve got a load of water as well in the back of the car so let’s head over now and catch up with the guys Bournemouth is in the grips of a housing crisis with a huge lack of affordable housing leading to higher than ever demand for social housing and more rough sleepers than anywhere else in the UK outside of London leaving authorities at bursting point the local housing needs assessment for Bournemouth Christ Church and pool the BCP area says that 2,670 new affordable homes should be built each year however between 2019 and 2023 only 102 affordable homes were delivered on average each year the social housing registers in the BCP area are at an all-time high with waiting lists longer than ever before in England there are 1.2 million households on waiting list for social housing he boy how you going guys what you going got quite a few of them right one here one over there right oh yeah you don’t want to walk into one of them so you got your fire pit set out you got the tent ready to go we get disposable barbecue we do we use kindling that I buy and um wool um wood wool nice we have a little F nothing major just just warm our hands up and we get into bed so you got some hot dinner for tonight as well perfect no worries mate absolutely my pleasure is so much better than bro which means yeah so much bigger isn’t it look you’ve actually got space now sit under shelter we put stuff inside inside well we got a porch sit in the night time as well we close this down just sit in here instead of having our beds touch the side of the tent which we had before get soaking wet yeah thank every morning that’s what I W up with us which for a free tent from we are humans I’m literally I’m ecstatic about again this something we got nothing from thanks to we are humans we’ve actually got a place that we can be happy same as well they’re not welcome don’t don’t come rocking back up again CU they tried reaching out to us again no they really all they all they wanted to to know was whether we were still in the same situation that was it they didn’t update for the checklist be you know where we are you don’t actually care what’s going on with us you’ve never once actually offered us anything viable like you knew we were in a tent that was leaking and everything you’ve got loads of money in your account all you have to do is send me in the right direction you don’t give any me just some me I can get one like or even just Lo me bring it back to you I don’t care either way just so we got a roof but now get a decent amount of sleep hope we definely s like a king for for the first time in a long time good cuz I haven’t got to worry about leaks whether or nothing it’s take a long time got a lot of these going around but that’s know it’s probably secured because that’s right inner shell and then the outer shell we have to put the sh up first hopefully you’re quite sheltered from from the element from the wind hopefully reason why we like it around there than yesterday the wind was coming up and over this fence way it was blowing but with this been way is it’s all Ted in can’t guy all around everywhere it’s it’s got nearly all the 22 hooks in they didn’t need all in my phone place a stick them with data from the 2021 sensor the office for National statistics revealed staggering differences in deprivation in areas across Bournemouth Christ Church and pool more than 51% of households in the BCP area are affected by deprivation with some communities in the region being in the top 2% of the UK’s most deprived areas in shocking contrast to this other areas within BCP lie in the top 1% of least deprived and have some of the most expensive property not only in Britain but the whole world this division in wealth is separated by just a few miles it’s the next morning I’ve arranged to meet Andrew Talbert the leading man behind the charity we are humans to have a chat about the issues at play and walk around Bournemouth to speak with those hardest hit by these problems so we taken down all the food donations down into the store room of we are humans at 10:00 every morning they have an an open Cafe where food is served to anybody that needs it within the community we document so many homeless meals we get how many breakfasts we give how many pensioners lunch club we give what we haven’t documented is everything else we do so on Monday uh total Services service users that we service was 97 on Tuesday it was 140 140 in a day in a day and uh yeah I haven’t had chance to catch up on yesterday’s numbers yet because I was very busy yesterday um and in some funds yeah cuz you’ve got a day job as well you I’ve got three jobs job so this is our High Street it’s a market day yeah um the market used to be packed right up this High Street it’s very dismal now almost like they’re trying to drive the market out um High rents uh low football it’s a beautiful Community um but like everywhere else in the country there has underlying problems have been created by successive government and we don’t have any Mental Health Services anymore homeless services are pretty much non-existent um you know we’ve got families living in the hotel rooms with not enough money to live then we’ve got pensioners living in misery and I know there so many pensioners this morning coming to The Pantry worked all their lives paid for a pension cuz a pension ain’t a benefit it’s something they paid and expected to be after in the old R that’s the old point of it um now is the calling a benefit and the means SES it when these people have paid him for 50 years and more it’s quite shocking we don’t have safety nets anymore it’s broken Britain broken Britain we got a new government that everybody lovely La all come in they’ll change things um it’s not happen they made things worse you know means testing the winter fuel allowance for pensioners yeah that’s a disgrace isn’t it that’s that’s a that’s death sentence for many many people yeah um I just find it shocking you know laor had the chance uh to start to turn the country around and all we’ve done it turn is over you know and it’s politics right the way through is corrupt you can vote for whatever party you want but basically at the end of the day you’re just voting for a different clown at the circus what really are your choices y Boo or coco I mean I vot I believe in voting I believe you should have bewhere it’s shocking it’s a shocking world we live in over the last few years what would you say is been one of the major causes of the decline that you’ve seen um the pandemic yeah uh the that’s cost so much Hur and you know it’s made family members fall out with each other it’s made communities divided was it all meant to be that way I wonder was it orchestrated that way it’s caus us cost of living crisis but is there cost a living crisis when you’re looking at the profits of the energy companies of the supermarkets yeah it’s not cost a living crisis when the profits are quadrupling and we get less for our money we get less service for our money it’s just D frustrating and you’re seeing it you’re seeing it you’re seeing it firsthand yeah not too bad mate what my grievance is uh basically what what I’m going to say is I haven’t got a lot of grievances but the toilets like I mean shut the toilets people on the streets that’s what I’ve heard yeah 6:00 they get shot don’t they well now them been out for two days oh really that’s disgusting mean um mean you people on the streets home I mean walking around disgusting um I mean I’ve been caught short myself in the past I me you’re human you know I mean but um you bag it up you know what I mean just like you got your pet you know what I mean you bag it up and put it in the bin do you blind them would you blind the C so you said you was a serving vet as well serving veteran goodness me and they’ve no support I’m assuming um I said you’re on drugs and there’s not really help off bless you brother good man keep on going mate I’ll come out you leave it with me I’m I [Music] know so Andy you just stop then by I’m assum and they were members of the NFA Community the no fixed Bo Community by NFA you mean no [ __ ] address polite turn so yeah yeah as opposed to no pick to B yeah yeah um yeah yeah so uh as you see just I’m one of the guys is he’s at the end of his SE um he’s about to leave town he’s just asked me for t uh he’s he’s going to go traveling the coast land so you’ll probably be him up the seaside yeah I’ve met a lot of people that do the same that particular gentleman I know where he’s been through and I know why he’s like that and he has good reason to be like that um I can’t di all young film but he really does have a good reason for that mental health it’s not self-inflicted at all he does drink most of them drink you can’t really go to sleep on a night without a drink uh it’s it’s quite difficult well just two nights ago I mean it was 50 mph wind yeah like how on 2° and how do these people and it’s only going to get worse over the coming months yeah yeah there win hits bites beds in it will get worse and the worst thing about it is there’s more people been teed out onto the street you know generally it was like single white males M um now it’s a whole Community yeah the pen I in the last couple of months I have a pensioners coming to me facing evictions um this morning as you seeing the gentleman that wanted to come downstairs and talk to me yeah he’s just been served with section 21 from a social housing provider call because they’ve not been doing the support that they should do so the council’s withdrawn the fund him and now they’re trying to evict him on a section 21 no fault eviction there is a fault here there’s an absolute fault and it’s a people that were again5 600 a week to accommodate him support him and help him move on with his life um they’ve failed him I’ve told all these three people I will come and represent them in court and uh we will let the judge know that this is not an no F action we’ve been joined here by one of the the famous big issue sellers Carl Carl so tell me Carl how long have you been selling the big issue I’ve been going it for three years now it’s over three years I used to be homeless I was homeless R the corner in pet Gard and I was attacked I had no teeth and that’s why I’m in this mobilia oh goodness after death I was in the hospital for months and months and months but last year I met Prince William yeah I was on the front cover with the prince himself yeah and Steven Bartlet from Dragon Den yeah and Paul G is the big isue help helped change your life yeah there me G and Prince William on the front page he hey how was selling the big issue Chang changed your life for you I’m now the franchise even is it’s it’s it yeah yeah cuz it is a it’s a you’ve really got to manage it I do it as a job man good man when when when the office is closed I on the B with big issues all the other vendors have to come and buy them off me when the office is closed and then I just give the money to the office got you and so you’ve gone from the streets now to being a main distributor for the big is three three years mate three years another success story brother get on mate I love it oh that’s how you got the sauce flavor the secret was tomato sauce lovely everyone reads about your cooking mate don’t they yeah in it been stopped again Andrew yeah it’s it’s hard to walk around anywhere uh people know us they know what I do I think I can call myself a local I’ve been here that long now I’d say same um and I’ve been doing the same thing that long now um as soon as I got myself into a place I decided to make changes to help the people who were still out there you were once homeless um I was homeless I saw the big issue lived in a tent spent time on the other the white spend time in sou so when you sell the big issue let’s get this St they don’t give them to you you’re self-employed you need to manage your business so you buy the issues you sell the issues at a higher price like any other retail so it’s it’s self-help it’s not hand out you’re not begging you’re working yeah um a lot of people make the mistake uh please don’t do that the amount of grief I got when I was selling the big issue was horrendous so I’ve just been introduced to you by Andrew and you just let me know then that you you are homeless on streets of Bournemouth so where where do you where do you tend to stay um I s of wand around of this um around here this radius so I’m either on this bench yeah or I’m up the top um of high cliff there a bench there stay on or just wandering around in this vunity last night and the night before the temperatures are seriously dropping now they are yeah so what’s your plans yeah the the um in the toilets are not too bad it keeps us dry so you stay inside the the public toilet yeah with the temperature I mean it’s all right at the moment but I know when it really seriously does drop we’re going to a bit of an issue so yeah and so uh do the council allow you to stay in the toilets or is this going to be a problem in the future interesting one some people are for us being in there and some people W want us out so we’re battling with some people in the it’s not actually the council is the people working for the council a couple of people at the moment good as gold have no issue there’s other people that have an issue and just don’t want us there what would you say some of your biggest difficulties are of of being on streets um being vulnerable and just not yeah the safety aspect to it as well yeah I hear that a lot and and you know just just wanting to be house and be safe and just you know what I mean yeah definitely and a feeling as well that a lot of people don’t care but they there people that do care yes but but then and you know you sort of identify the people that don’t so you’re battling with the people that don’t but a wonderful with the people that do yes you know what I mean and there is a lot of help in bourou more than I realized when they first come all sort of Oran organizations and people that just want to Keeps Us Alive and keeps us with hope you use our services I do you like our services fantastic what’s the best part about our services because because so many people say that this man is done and I my understanding is done so much for the home he’s our spokesman for how what you know our struggles and everything and if it weren’t for him there wouldn’t be much hope I don’t think you’re the man M what’s the best what’s the best part we do though give us hope humans give and and and and everything you know of clothes and and and and just being respectful being nice that’s why it’s such a good representation of what you’re all about awesome man and you like our and his foods are cooking best I love you more Andy a bless mate thank you so much this is the man this is the man mate that’s why I’m with him the whole not me I know that Ali but you’re the spokesman and you’ve been homeless yes you’ve been there particular winter um the council removed the gentleman’s tents sleeping biks and belongings from under a fly over down at Bournemouth that very same night that gentleman died of hypothermia and that wasn’t the only person BCP the there are no Services there is no safety that where is it there’s been an enormous cut to the funding that was received over the last 10 years is but we can send billions of pounds overseas when we’ve got soldiers dying on our streets that’s been abandoned by Society by the government that they served and it’s private organizations Andrew like yourself that I see time and time again are picking up the slack we shouldn’t have to you shouldn’t even have to exist I should I I live beside the seaside I should be down the beach yeah I shouldn’t be in a kitchen cooking for people would desperate I really shouldn’t I shouldn’t have to give up every every weekend to go feeding homeless people and vulnerable people down in Bournemouth Square I shouldn’t have to do that this is the government’s job this is the council’s job but they’re just not doing it after an eye open in 48 hours with the charity it allowed me to see the reality on the streets and just how imperative the incredible work that Andy and the team at we are humans is for this community if you feel led to support the vital work that Andy and we are humans are doing the link is in the description with winter coming they could definitely do with the support after hearing so many heroin stories what struck me is often in our society we treat animals with more respect and compassion than our own homeless next time you see a homeless person remember the words of Cathy and just how much a simple smile or small gesture can mean to these people since the filming of this video Andrew informs me that the authorities heard about the production of this documentary and they have since had meetings with we are humans and housed 44 people in 7 Days these are unprecedented numbers a great step in the right direction and with the help of my members Community we managed to get caffy and Jamal into a hotel during a recent storm thanks for watching please remember to like comment and subscribe it really does help the video gain traction and go out to a wider audience with topics like this it’s so important that as many people see this video as possible and with your help we can do that I’ll see you on the next one