‘It’s scary… we have nowhere to go’: The families coming to terms with being homeless this Christmas

Published

2 years ago

December 18, 2023

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In the corner of a cramped hotel room, there’s a small Christmas tree. Two stockings hang from the window ledges. There isn’t room for much more. Bunk beds and a double bed take up much of the space.

The rest of the room is filled with the possessions of a family of four who have found themselves suddenly and unexpectedly homeless.

A year ago the prospect of having nowhere to live never would have occurred to Adam, his wife and two children, who were living in a three-bedroom home in West Bromwich that they had rented for eight years.

Adam works as an electrician and his wife works as a teaching assistant. They had always paid their rent on time.

But their children, Holly, 12, and her younger brother, will now be among a record number of children who are homeless this Christmas.

They are two of the almost 139,000 children in England who will spend Christmas in temporary accommodation. It’s an increase of 14% from 2022 as the number of homeless families hits the highest since records began.

In September, just as Holly was starting secondary school, their landlord told them he had decided to sell their house.

“It was gut-wrenching leaving, because that’s all the kids have ever known really,” Adam says.

“We were evicted through no fault of our own – we always paid our rent and everything like that – it’s just the landlord wanted to sell up at the time.”

They quickly found they had nowhere to go.

‘It’s soul destroying’

Adam explains: “Where we were for eight years, the rent stayed pretty much the same all that time, so to then be suddenly kicked out and see what the going rate is now for rental markets… it’s astronomical really… it was too much for us to even consider.”

The family have joined the long waiting list for a council house but are resigned that they will be spending at least the next month in the hotel room in Birmingham provided for them as emergency accommodation.

“The anxiety of it not knowing when we’re going to be out and when my children are going to have their own rooms again… it’s quite soul destroying really,” Adam says.

“We’re hoping sometime early in the new year we’re going to have better news.”

The hotel where they’re staying is on Hagley Road, one of the main routes into Birmingham. It’s lined with hotels and B&Bs that have become shelters for the city’s homeless.

‘Like we’re in prison’

A few doors down, Nadia and her three teenagers share a hotel room. They’ve been homeless since 2021, and face their third Christmas in temporary accommodation.

“It just becomes unbearable after a while, just like we’re in a prison, just four walls,” Nadia says.

Don, 17, and his two sisters have to do their school and college work sitting on their beds. He says all he wants is his own space and a home he can invite his friends to.

They’re not allowed visitors and he doesn’t like to tell his classmates where he lives.

The family became homeless after falling behind on payments on their privately rented house. Nadia says she scrolls property websites for other private rentals but simply can’t afford them.

Instead, they wait and hope for a council house. But their circumstances have been made worse because Nadia lost her job as a care support worker last year.

She says she received a call from the council to say they had found her family a house in Walsall, 15 miles away from Birmingham. She doesn’t have a car so told her employer she couldn’t come in anymore. Then, on the morning they were due to move, she was told the house had fallen through.

“I’d lost my job already, so basically I lost my income,” she says. She’s now in training with the Jobcentre but still has no idea how much longer they will have to wait for a home.

The problem isn’t going away

The experiences of these two families are mirrored across the country.

“If you look at the sort of overarching reasons, we don’t have enough affordable housing,” says Matthew Wilkins, head of value for money at the Centre for Homelessness Impact.

“Local authorities will place people in B&Bs where they have no other options to go into. The latest data suggests that that’s really increased,” he adds.

The bill to councils in England for temporary accommodation has spiralled to £1.7bn, up from £1.2bn three years ago.

“The situation we find ourselves in now suggests that the spending of some authorities on homelessness and temporary accommodation is such that it could pose a risk to the financial sustainability in the longer term,” Mr Wilkins says.

“If you take one particular case in one particular place, we calculate that almost 50% of people who are housed in temporary accommodation in the private rented sector in London will be there for around five years or more.”

This provides little hope for children like Holly who has two wishes this Christmas: “To get a house and to make my family happy,” she says, adding that life is currently “quite scary, because we don’t really have anywhere to go”.

UK

Ex-England footballer Stuart Pearce’s son Harley dies in tractor crash

Published

6 hours ago

October 20, 2025

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Ex-England footballer Stuart Pearce's son Harley dies in tractor crash

The son of former England footballer Stuart Pearce has died in a crash, his family has said.

Harley Pearce, from Marlborough in Wiltshire, was driving a tractor near Witcombe, Gloucestershire, on Thursday, when he was involved in a collision, police said.

The 21-year-old farming worker died at the scene, on the A417 Old Birdlip Hill in Witcombe, around five miles from Gloucester.

No other vehicles were involved, Gloucestershire Constabulary said. Emergency services were called to the scene of the incident at about 2.30pm on October 16.

Harley Pearce was 21 and worked in farming, according to reports.

‘Our shining star’

In a tribute posted on Facebook, Harley sister, Chelsea Pearce, said the family was “truly shocked and utterly heartbroken at the loss of our cherished son and devoted brother, Harley”.

He was, the family said, was a soul “who left an unforgettable imprint on all who knew him”.

“He was a golden boy with an infectious smile, and this shocking tragedy will leave a huge hole in the hearts of those who were fortunate enough to have known him.”

He had “a quiet, understated strength and deep kindness”.

The family said they were “so proud of the young man he had become, exhibiting a wonderful work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit in the farming industry.

“He will always be our shining star. Rest in Peace, our beautiful son and brother. You will never, ever be forgotten.”

What have police said?

Harley ran his own company, Harley Pearce Agricultural Service, talkSPORT said.

Gloucestershire Constabulary said on Thursday: “The driver of the tractor, a man in his 20s and from Wiltshire, was pronounced dead at the scene.

“His next of kin are aware and being supported by specially trained officers.”

The force is appealing for any witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage to contact them.

‘Tragic news’

Harley’s father, Stuart Pearce, played 78 times for England and was part of the Three Lions squads which reached the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96, the FA said on its website.

He was later the head coach of the England Under-21s.

During a long club career, he made more than 400 appearances for Nottingham Forest, many of them as captain, during a 12-year spell at the City Ground.

He later managed the club, as well as another former club, Manchester City.

Pearce currently works as a pundit on talkSPORT, which said on its website that Harley and Chelsea were the two children he had with his ex-wife Liz.

Presenter Jim White said during a broadcast on Monday that “everybody here on this show and at talkSPORT sends our heartfelt condolences to the family of Stuart Pearce after that tragic news we’ve just heard”.

Several of the clubs he played for posted tributes on X, including Forest, who said they were “deeply saddened”.

The club said: “The thoughts of everyone connected with Nottingham Forest are with Stuart and his family at this truly difficult time.”

West Ham United said: “We are saddened to hear of Harley Pearce’s passing.

“Everyone at the Club sends their deepest condolences to Stuart and his family at this tragic time.”

Manchester City said: “Everyone at Manchester City sends their love and thoughts to Stuart and his family at this very difficult time.”

UK

Inquiry launched into ‘repeated’ maternity failings at Leeds NHS trust

Published

6 hours ago

October 20, 2025

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Inquiry launched into 'repeated' maternity failings at Leeds NHS trust

After years of campaigning, bereaved families in Leeds have been told they will get a fully independent inquiry into local maternity services.

The inquiry was announced by Health Secretary Wes Streeting who said he was “shocked” that the families faced “repeated maternity failures… made worse by the unacceptable response of the trust”.

Despite running one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust “remains an outlier on perinatal mortality”, according to official data.

In June, the Care Quality Commission downgraded maternity services at the trust to “inadequate”, describing serious risks to women and babies and a deep-rooted “blame culture” that left staff afraid to speak up.

Grieving families have welcomed the launch of the inquiry.

In 2023, an inquest concluded Fiona Winser-Ramm and Daniel Ramm’s first baby, Aliona, died in 2020 as a result of neglect from medical staff.

“When after our daughter died, we were told that they had never seen anything like it before. And we believed it initially,” said Ms Winser-Ramm.

“We believed that we were the first people, the only people that this had ever happened to. And in the depths of our despair and grief, we needed to find other people that understood this, that were the same as us,” she added.

Mr Ramm said the inquiry had been “a long time coming”.

“We have, as a group of families, spent years trying to essentially expose what the problems have been at least that we’ve known have existed all along,” he said.

Lauren Caulfield’s baby Grace was stillborn in 2022 and an investigation found failings in her care.

“We shouldn’t… as bereaved, grieving parents have to do this [campaigning] for so many years. [It’s] quite a relief to know that, you know, we don’t have to keep fighting,” she said.

Mr Streeting said: “This stark contradiction between scale and safety standards is precisely why I’m taking this exceptional step to order an urgent inquiry in Leeds.

“We have to give the families the honesty and accountability they deserve and end the normalisation of deaths of women and babies in maternity units.

“These are people who, at a moment of great vulnerability, placed their lives and the lives of their unborn children in the hands of others – and instead of being supported and cared for, found themselves victims.”

Brendan Brown, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I want to start by offering the families an unreserved apology, not only for their experience, but also for the fight that they’ve had in raising these concerns.

“And I want to assure them of our commitment to engage with the independent inquiry openly, honestly and transparently.”

The families are waiting for the terms of reference of the investigation to be confirmed, but feel the police should be involved.

They also called for it to be chaired by midwife Donna Ockenden, who is heading the independent review of maternity services at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Leeds now joins a growing list: Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury, East Kent, and the ongoing Nottingham inquiry, all uncovering shocking failures in maternity care across England.

UK

King visits scene of fatal Manchester synagogue attack

Published

6 hours ago

October 20, 2025

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King visits scene of fatal Manchester synagogue attack

The King has visited the scene of a fatal attack at a synagogue in Manchester.

The monarch was greeted by Rabbi Daniel Walker when he arrived at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.

He spent a few minutes at an outside memorial area next to the synagogue, where flowers and messages have been left by those paying their respects.

It was the King’s first official engagement since Prince Andrew‘s decision to relinquish his titles under intense public scrutiny following allegations he sexually abused Virginia Giuffre. The prince vehemently denies the allegations.

Andrew also faces the Metropolitan Police looking into reports he asked an officer to help with an attempted smear campaign against Ms Giuffre.

During the attack at the Manchester synagogue on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, father-of-three Melvin Cravitz, 66, was killed, along with Adrian Daulby.

Mr Daulby, 53, was believed to have been inadvertently shot by police as he ran to block the synagogue doors to stop the attacker getting inside to continue his knife rampage.

Attacker Jihad al Shamie, 35, called 999 during his deadly rampage, pledging allegiance to the so-called Islamic State terror group.

He drove his car at Jews gathering at the Heaton Park Hebrew Synagogue for the holy day of Yom Kippur, then attacked others with a knife and tried to storm the synagogue, wearing a fake suicide belt, before armed police shot him dead.

Last week, Yoni Finlay, who is believed to have been hit by a police bullet during the attack and underwent seven hours of surgery, was discharged from hospital.

He reportedly helped barricade the doors at the synagogue.

Greater Manchester Police said two other men injured in the attack, a security guard who was hurt when the attacker rammed his car outside the synagogue and a volunteer who was stabbed, remain in stable conditions.