Sunday 28 May 2017

Week 8.. hope for us and dispair for others..

So we've been here 8 weeks..  we are lucky, we have people washing for us, and a fabulous cottage pie off my sister in law, we've had friends invite us for food and the botanical gardens are doing dinosaurs which is included in our yearly pass!!

Lots others aren't so lucky...

We've had the Manchester bomb..  a murderer, nothing more.. nothing less..  a mass murderer who isn't worthy of us speaking his name..   those poor families, kids.. could have been any of us, we've all been to concerts at huge venues; so they target these groups for the most impact..  why not do 'take that' a few days later???   Because a few middle age mums is quick news headlines..  kids.. makes us us more outraged.. it's more personal..  my prayers go to everyone effected that night and thanks to all that instead of running away ran to help x

I've been to cook tonight (cook as in two bags of marinated chicken and some microwave rice and veg..     but ended up sitting on the floor trying to work out people's council letters (we did eat!).
The letters are hard for us to work out.. if English isn't your first langue it's close to impossible..   I've told a lady tonight she's on the streets by Wednesday if she doesn't appeal fast enough and another who's lost the chance to appeal as she didn't understand the guideline (I've given the info I can)   Surely it wouldn't take the council  a lot to write letters In a pre-decided mother tongue?

These are people with kids 2 and under . it's not right x

I'm shocked in here daily.. there's a lady whose been here 4 1/2 months who's really struggling with her mental health.. I've given her a map and points out places that can help her maybe..  but it's an isolating place,  People who are missing meals beacause the kitchens too busy.. ,  I appreciate the hotel every day xx I appreciate people live in a constant state of stress And they are doing their best in awful situations

As for me... a recorded message from the mp about the general election, and nothing from the councillors since I've got here.  I appreciate all the help and letters that they have given in the way of letters but now feel well and truley dumped..

I've spent years encouraging the children and personally taking part in the community.. spent a good while getting 'sure start' off the ground  doing focus groups and putting the bid together..  taking my son to participate in 'TNT' the kids local news.. and him getting a community award..  but feel amazed that a few kind words couldn't be spoken in our direction when we were forced from our home. Whilst before we were evicted we had some letters but since we've been in here nothing..
Maybe they are so busy with elections, they are simply running out of day, or maybe they are well and truley sick of me!

Then we had a call..

We have been allocated a four bedroom temporary accommodation house in Newtown.
It's on the bus routes that we use so everyone can get where they need to be.  I could have kissed the man!! No curfew, cooking after 9pm.. heaven!   And as it's temporary accommodation it's furnished so no panic about furniture until the next move!!
We can't take the pets with us though, so have had a discussion about re-homing them.. a sad time but I can't take advantage of friends to that degree,

Someone hasn't thought times through.. we have to be out of the bed and breakfast by 12, with all our stuff,  we don't sign for the house till 1-45,  so we expected to spend a few hours walking or hanging round with 6 children and all our stuff?    (We are lucky we will take over a friends house for a few hours, others aren't. Imagine if it's raining so all your things get wet, so do you and your children, and you need to get all your things across the city,  as I've said I have lots of questions and no answers.  The timing bit I understand the hotel need to clean and will probably have a new family allocated to the room before we have even left. But maybe you could have a day before moving in? Or sign early morning?  I don't know..)

But I'm incredibly gratefull for the house!!  Cooking after 9 will be a novelty!


Edited to add...

I have amazing friends, they are keeping the pets for as long as needed!

And another has suggested a crowd funding page, to buy furniture when we get a forever home, I don't know.. I'm not good with asking things from people!

Sunday 21 May 2017

Food...

As a family that like food..

 one of my favourite pictures are of my (then young) hubby cooking with his dad (I recently took a picture of our son cooking with his dad, which Is a whole new story)

Cooking has become a need to fill a tummy rather then an enjoyable experience,

 I've recently read about rickets  coming back and comments such as a cheap pizza is the same price as an apple so there's no excuse, and the possible government policy of getting rid of school dinners..
(This isn't political..  my only thing is please vote:.  Draw a dick on it, vote for an unknown, vote labour; (just not the other one!) just please use your vote it's your right that many don't have! So please use it)

The one comment that annoys me is 'can't feed don't breed'  so us..  we could afford all the kids when we started we never claimed anything, now we do, so which children should I not have had 'just in case? '  We've always fed anyone who appeared hungry or not.. so where does that stand?

All children deserve a full tummy, irrespective of parents income or ability or political status they all deserve a the same opportunities.. and a full tummy shouldn't be an opportunity, it should be a right that we all should feel obliged to fulfil..  children are our future and if we can't invest in them we are f**ked!

Anyway.. that's an annoyance!

So eating in here is an experience..

Yes an apple is cheaper than a pizza...but a pizza will fill a tummy for  the night..  and if your looking for full tums there's no comparisons..

I am luckily enough to know of projects such as the junk food project..  whom are about 'feed bellies not bins' and I get it.. I've volunteered before as have my kids, but lots aren't so lucky.. for the food boxes we need to go back on the waiting list, and it's incredibly hard to explain it to people of a different language without the home tongue,  but these are the families that need it. But the storage is still an issue.

Another reality is cooking with kids..  how do you cook with a child, when your room is away from the kitchen?   Do you cook with one hand? (Lots do)  I've had the prvaliage of holding babies while mom cooks:  do you leave them in the room? Do you leave them in the corridor??   Have a think...  what would you do? There's no playpen.. one kitchen, two floors away from me..  put yourself in these mums situations.. (I'm ok.. there's lots of us.  But lots are on their own)

There's one four ring hob and a single shelved oven:.   We can cook now I've got my head around it.. it's not easy we are feeding 8 mouths.. but we can do it!

We have worked out meals to have in a kettle.. we can do noodles, fresh pastas, mash, hot dog sausages, we can heat up tins.. we are good!!

We met a man the other day (came to borrow the dust pan and brush) he had the same attitude as us so there's lots of hope out there!!


As I've said before I don't know the answers to many questions but surely with so many people there should be a way to find the answers.. please share hopefully with enough people asking the same questions we can come through to find the answers




Wednesday 17 May 2017

Week 6-7. Bugs..And a minor breakdown about no kitchen..

So I haven't posted for a week or so..

On one of the Fridays it was reported to reception that we were being bitten (we had been bitten through the whole few weeks but I hate complaining!
Ironically we went on a bug hunt around the botanical gardens and struggled to find anything! When we came home found a bug walking up dads (my hubbys) top! So caught it!
We are now the dinner of bed  bugs.. they are quite sweet but the bites are painful, itchy and sore!

We were told the council were coming out so would check that day,  then on the Monday, no one came..
Then the following Thursday a knock on the door and it was the bug man to spray..  we hadn't been told he was coming!    We were given two options.. he comes back, or we have the time he sprays another room to get everyone up, dressed, the room empty and vacate for 6 hours...  so in about 20 minutes, everyone was up, everything we have is thrown into the bathroom (where else can we put it..).  We have no wardrobes or draws so we live out of bags...
Luckily we had been invited to a friends for tea, and it had been arranged that willow went straight there from school.
So we are sort of bed bug free.. for the moment, we still get an odd bite so must be tasty!

Since the fire we  only have one kitchen, so four rings and a single oven, and a microwave..  between every one in the hotel..  so lots of people are having to eat out.. (we also have to shop daily)  which is both expensive and un-healthy,  The children have always had a good diet, plenty of vegetables..  not in here..  firstly you can't cook it nor can you store it.   We have one fridge in the kitchen for everyone, but it seems that unfortunately some people just take what they fancy, so batch cooking and storing isn't an option,  we can't bring in another fridge, or slow cooker, I have asked.
So cooking has gone from an enjoyable hobby to how to feed tummies that day, ideally one pot meals as you rarely cook alone..  also the oven only has one shelf.. so cooking for a family of our size is a challenge..
I spent last week trying to cook a spaghetti bolognese..  I took the mince in and out of our tiny fridge so many times it went off..  every time I got to the kitchen there were three or four families trying to cook.. on a single four ring hob,  the kitchen is small anyway so you physically couldn't get in!  This is the one time in the adventure I've really struggled, to have to get another takeaway, we can't afford it and it's no good for the children, but when the kitchen closes at 9 and you have run out of evening trying to cook, there is no option unless you choose to have pot noodle (full of salt) or a sandwich. Which when people have been at work all day is not enough!  (If people are working late we have to wrap their meals in towels to keep it warm as obviously if the kitchen closes at 9 there's no microwave access) We have now invested in hot dog sausages, instant mash and noodles that don't need boiling and are experimenting with what to cook hot with just hot water/a kettle.  We are incredibly lucky that when I have a moment on fb people are sympathetic and try to help.. lots of people have no-one x

We don't know how long before the second kitchen re-opens apparently we are waiting for insurance investigators as the fire was started on purpose..  which is a scary thought, someone was happy to burn all these families, us included.

The older children are finding it hard, one is up for work at 6ish and has neighbours that wail and shout through the night, then he's working all the hours he can do so he's not stuck in here, he's making himself ill. Socialising is difficult as we have an 11pm curfew, 20 year olds who work generally aren't home for 11) the other  children can't meet their friends as they are used to (everyone normally piles into our house, is fed, warm, listened to and joins in)  now they are roaming the streets, there's no-where to go,  being stopped and searched is becoming a normal thing for them and doing their self-esteem no good.

The smaller ones get on with it.. they have things to do inside and we go out a lot. We've noticed that the 7 yo is reading independently with greater understanding and is on her way to mastering her tables so maybe I'm ok at this home schooling thing after all!


Saturday 6 May 2017

We can bid!

So yesterday we had an e-mail saying we could bid!!

Yay...

We have bid on two properties one is acocks green we are in position 35..  and one in edgbaston (perfect situation for the family) we are in position 22..

I appreciate there's lots of others in our situation but 35 and 22??

What are those poor families living in to be in such a higher bidding position?   The new system has bands and not points.. so we are  band 2, I have yet to work out how they work out who in band 2 gets heigher priority..

Thankyou for all your kind words and actions x a lot of you have bought me to tears!
 
 On another note we are waiting for a bug man on Monday as we all keep being bitten...  I know we are doing a mini mini-beast project but this is a little close to home!

And thanks to all the people doing our washing xx

Thursday 4 May 2017

A new bidding cycle.. and another we can't bid on!

This is the most frustrating bit of the situation..

Bidding..

Basically houses appear today (Thursday) you bid on ones you would like to be considered for, (only 2 a week) and they disappear midnight Monday..  you get an idea of placement while bidding but the ultimate decision is down to whoever is shortlisting.

Now remember I had to change our address on the housing application to the b&b the council homeless team had put us in..  this is classed as a change in circumstance so it disables the ability to bid, until the form is 'processed' (remember the days a person in the other end of the phone just clicked a few buttons and magically address changed,  They disappeared last month!)

So I've been calling and e-mailing, to try and get the application sorted so the bidding can re-commence..

I've just received an e-mail saying the form can take 6 weeks 😱😱😱😱😱. And I need to be patient 😂😂😂.  There's no one to appeal to.. councillors etc don't reply, so we are stuck here without even the ability to try and find a home! So all these houses and there's nothing I can do...

Wednesday 3 May 2017

Some bits I missed..

Hillcrest girls school have been amazing!  It was suggested I asked for help (I'm not good at this bit!) as the girls only ever had one uniform (I washed daily)   So I did.. they took her  to Clive marks and bought, trousers, shirts, blazer, pe t shirt.. much more than planned! I was hoping for a couple of shirtsfrom lost property!  They truly have been what a school should be in the way of support I will never thank them enough.

Caron at the ladywood project.. offers so much support without realising it! All through this process I know they have my Back and I do believe always will. But their funding keeps being cut!

I had an appointment at money advice..  imagine being in here and having less than a week to leave.. with no beds cooker etc..we were told   no one will help until we have an address.. that's daft and don't know how it needs sorting!

And pics. I don't know how! But will work it out..  its been a tough day x and that will come tomorrow!  Thanks xx



Weeks 3-5 ish.. a child moving out.. two others running for charity

So our form still hadn't been released so I can't bid on houses..
I have e-mailed all the councillors (and anyone with a birmingham council e-mail address, and the mo.. with no reply.. (Except for one I had one asking someone else to look into it but nothing for a week!)  so five weeks now and not even able to bid on a property!


We printed off some St. George's day resources (yes I bought the printer with me!) and made some posters etc..  the 7 yo found the idea of someone rescuing you fascinating.. as far as she's concerned her brothers, dad, uncle Ian, and Sam will save her from everything!

Out door lock still isn't working... but we get around it..

Our oldest child has left us..  he's found a flat with someone he works with..  whilst I appreciate he's old enough, works etc.. this is something I don't think I will forgive 'the process/system' for.. (and anyone who knows me will know that's huge for me). This process has broken my Close knot family apart..  he now living miles away and by our hotel rules can't visit! (We have good hotel staff though that had let him up) I think sharing a bed with his brother proved to much!

I rang the council..  to find the phone lines have been suspended due to the amount of calls!! So we have to e-mail them again!

Which is fine but no one replies...


Two of the children did the 10k birmingham run .. 55 mins and 58 mins.. we are so proud of them!!  They  still try to raise money for a charity they believe in rather than feel sorry for themselves!    I tried to tag our Lord Mayor in a post but for some reason my phone wouldn't allow it!


We then had a fire... just past midnight the alarms went off.. intermittently to start.. but (paranoid mom) something didn't sit right so on investigation the corridor (three fire doors from us, one from our child) is full of smoke..  so knocking the child out of bed (he would sleep through anything) and coming back to our room  we ring reception to find the kitchen is on fire.. but all sorted and. We don't need to evacuate..  (the child is 20!)

So now we have one kitchen between lots and lots of people... for a few days! Then the kitchens will only be open 7am-9 pm..

So it's an interesting few weeks..  i will have to find how to add pics and the stuff we are doing with the girls..  please share as widely as possible x we need a home xx  but there's to many children in these places and unless someone speaks it will stay under the carpet xx

Week 3/4 (ish) bank holiday and getting locked out!

Not much had happened really..

Bowling with friends..  as always a laugh!

 I'm grateful to have friends that invite us out all the time but accepts if we can't or don't go and carries on inviting..

We had a lovely Easter Sunday dinner at my sister-in-laws (they have been amazing!)  and seeing my  toddle round makes you grateful for what you have!

Hubbys mood has lifted intermittently which is amazing x just praying that our real home (the pretty one the little one is waiting for) helps us turn a corner..

A few drinks at a friends   (We found buying food for someone else's house very odd!).

We go back to find out lock doidnt work.. so most of us piled into the boys room and some stayed downstairs while the master key was found, then the other master key... but we got in eventually!  Our 17 yo got back first and was offered another room.. he said he debated taking it but thought he should tell them that he shared with 6 other members of the family!
But it was a lovely afternoon!!
The following day I had comments  from the management about the behaviour of the children.. apparently it's nice to have a 'nice' family and their manners are  impeccable!

We are now washing in the bath..  we can't keep giving out the amounts of washing we were.. so the girls now live in t-shirts and leggings!   This situation has made me realise how little we 'need' compared to how much we have!    We had a clothiers airer donated and it's working well..

Cooking is more of a problem as nothing can be stored, so we eat day to day which is expensive!  (I can't use my slow cooker either..  so it's got to be food that's quite quick as you don't really want to leave it unattended..

I have realised how hard it is for some families..  we are in here.. yes it's crap. But.. our friends and family are down the road..we know the area..  a lady appologised for her little boy playing 'knock door run' (we are at the end.. it's hard to run anywhere) but the kids are bored! They have no tv, or 'systems' there's no outdoor space, glancing in rooms there's no toys..  one was playing with a carrier bag containing some board game pieces, and a few cards.. and were making games up..  outside his room..  I spoke to mum and managed to describe the park and where it was .. she was unbelievably grateful. I don't know what can be done to help families in these places but something needs to be put in place some sort of welcome pack..   maybe something to think of when we leave x

Anyway.. this is the week I realise the new housing system comes in and they don't automatically change your address!  So for over an hour I battled through an on-line form changing the address for 9 people!   (It times out every 15 mins so if it hasn't saved you do it again!). So that's now pending waiting for the council to approve it (remembering they put us here)  we are now on week 5 and not been able to bid on anything yet until the form is accepted!

Week 1 and 2. and a birthday..

We are plodding along ok..

We've made the decision to de-register the 7 year old, it's not going to be right her going back to the school that we've just left.
A few points led us to the decision,

  • She's still processing the we are a family but they have taken our home (she's 7.. it is this black and white to her)
  • Her seeing our house pulled apart and used for whatever purpose seems  un-necessary.
  • I hate sats so don't want her stressing over them, she has enough to deal with at the moment
  • She doesn't want to go back!  (We discussed home education a while back, it was our plan to give it a go with a new house. So she's adamant that's it..   a b&b isn't ideal but I'm not worrying about that now! We plan to try and convince her to go to another local primary while we are here but that's for another day)
  • If she misses time for whatever reason (remember she's just missed 4 days) it will be detrimental to both hers and the schools attendance records)
So on Monday I send in a basic de-registration letter to the head, and a polite thanks for everything one to the pastoral officer. I receive a message back from the pastoral officer and later in  the day he's done the paper work..  (nothing from the head sadly but he didn't speak to her while in the st Patrick's day parade so I'm not surprised)

The older child's school gets in touch to tell us to keep her for the extra week and enjoy our long Easter break..   I must say.. Hillcrest girls school have been amazing!

So we are now free...  now what.. we go to the park! Lol!

We spend the next week or so.. sorting out living.. buying roasting tins and saucepans a washing up bowl for clothes washing and plates.. (remember all ours are gone!). 

Trying to sort out cooking..

Meeting some characters.. most people in here speak Spanish, so hubbys child hood
Spanish starts to come to the front!  I have families 'mooing' at me as we are trying to communicate what's being cooked. 

We go the botanical gardens, and to the Black Country museum..  have picnics with people I haven't seen for years but jumped to help when we had troubles..  

We have a birthday..  and still put banners up, we go out for a meal and the ed sheeran tickets were a much wanted present that bought tears.

My sister in law and friends are doing the washing for us so alls good!  

The first few days..

We spend the next few days trying to empty and store things from the house, we have been given 2 days to empty it as long as we don't sleep there. We are promised our post will be saved and redirected. We are told to hand the keys in before 3 on Friday..

The cats are collected by a lady and we manage to convince auntie to have the old cat while we try and sort something out..  so delaying signing the girl cats over.

We get to the stage we have left lots of things (we asked for an extra few days so we could get another skip etc but was told to leave it and it would be delt with)

The older children are matter of fact about the whole situation, the younger keeps asking why we have to leave the trampoline, swing, pool, she has a panic attack about her bike so we take over a friends shed with bikes and scooters..  

(At this point please be aware. I completely get the school it's only right they had the house back..  but I do wish we could have found somewhere to live first,  but 14 months is more than fair!   It's been hard explaining to a 7 year old that the school that says we are a family want the house back cause daddy doesn't work there..  but she gets it.. we worked hard on not being negative about the situation with her. And I think we've done ok..   but she's a clever sausage who doesnt miss anything)

As anyone who knows me knows.. I'm never on time.. so we hand the keys back at 4pm.. a few nice words from a senior member of staff. A question about when the child will return,   And we turn our back on the place we've called home for 17 years..

Eviction and a b&b

So the day comes round.. we still aren't ready..   the cat sanctuary can't get some of the cats yet, and we still have a house of stuff!

The older daughters school has told us to keep her off until we know what's happening,

The younger daughters school (the one that we are being evicted from) rang to see why she wasn't in!

We all hang around waiting for 'the call'

About 11-15 the phone rings,  we can be placed in a b&b on the hagley road, there are three rooms for us, own bathrooms, shared kitchen, no clothes washing facilities..  I can live with that!!  All those sleepless nights considering we could be miles away, or in a b&b where we have to be out all day.. or with a shared bathroom..  the relief was immense! We have a roof...

We come down, there's a mix up there's only two rooms.. I can deal with that!  The working boys not only share a room but a bed too! (Not ideal.. but we can deal with it).

I sign an agreement we have a 11pm curfew, no visitors, rent 167.00 a week, no cooking in the room, housekeeping is on Monday and breakfast is 6-8 (I think) you knock a door and are given milk, small cerial boxes and some coffe/tea/sugar sachets (we've only managed breakfast one morning! When they children ate cereal from plastic Cups as we forgot bowls!). Internet is £15 for 7 nights and the password is changed daily.

the boys room is ok.. a wardrobe, desk, bed, tv, a kettle and on-suite.

Our room is ok..  a table, tiny fridge, triple bunk, double bed and a fold out bed.. (we point out to reception we are a bed missing and another fold up bed appears) a coffee table and a bedside table both the fold out beds have slats missing.. but we can deal with that! The bathroom is clean and warm.. the bath is a delight!!! Hot big and no draughts!  We have no tv or kettle bit reception say we can bring our own in which we do.
There's a shared fridge in the kitchen I will choose not to use and use of an oven, hob and microwave.. it's not fabulous but had no oven for the last 18 months so we can do this!

(So the council said we need 7 bedrooms for all of us.. now 7 of us are in a room)

I'm grateful of a roof, it's warm and quiet with clean beds..

I need to make it clear.. at no point will I slate the hotel we are in! The staff are lovely and dealing with some difficult people  in difficult situations.



The boys take us for a meal for tea.. we've had a rough day x but we've come through it..

Our story upto eviction...

So after a few suggestions here we are..  I will try to bring it up-to -date with our last few years that bought us to this point in time..  please bear with me..   so this is our story so far...

April 2000 - hubby becomes a residential school caretaker with Birmingham city council
Dec 2000 - we move into the attached house.

We have a few head teachers.. no problems, a few more kids, I work here and there, a few pets, a few bows.. life is good!

July 2014 - hubby has a dodgy knee, hospital say it's bakers kneee

Over the next year or so legs get worse, as does mental health due to chronic pain..  drugs are tried and dismissed, in the end arthritis and a knee replacement is on the table..

Jan 2015,  new head,  hubby works for an hour before being diagnosed with mental health issues and is signed off sick..

Over the next year, we have social services turn up (the plumber? Reported to school we have no stairs, doors and animal excrement everywhere,  all accusations are proved to be untrue, but it's horrible when someone is going through your cupboards to see if you feed your children, we were also warned that under section 50 (I think it was) hubby could lose his job if accusations can be upheld!   The social worker did his checks and left us with lovely comments on how nice our children are and that we were doing a good job with them!

Lots of other things happened but I'm not going into those here, but it was obvious we wouldn't be staying, so I put us on the housing register oct 2015.    I also contacted my local councillors at this early point to say we would be needing help to find a new home.

Jan 2016. The council accept homeless duty towards us and we start bidding..
We try and keep school as informed as we can through every step..

Over the next year we bid on approx 58 properties, with no luck, the council say we need 6 (then 7) bedrooms due to our childrens ages,  we say we need 4 as we are already living in 3 bedrooms.. it's fine!  We include all three of our councillors and our mp in our plight and they write letters but we have no luck with a new home.  The head of the council suggest our two older children find their own homes, so we wouldn't need as many bedrooms (the ones we didn't want anyway) so the councils suggestion is to make two children homeless to re-home the rest.  

One of the toughest conversations you can have is with your children regarding what to do if we end up on the streets, where they can borrow a sofa or floor for the night..  these are kids that work, have never been in trouble and look after each other!  And we are disgusting if we are split up  what we can do to stay safe.   I pray that we never have these discussions again and that no-one else ever need to.

March 2017. We are taken to court for possession of the house, (not something we have ever denied, we just need somewhere to live). The judge give us 14 days to leave.

April 2017.  We have signed out cats and dog over to charities as we can't take them and farmed small pets out to friends to look after..  the most upsetting thing is handing over our 14 year old cat.. knowing she may be to old and cranky to be re-homed but it has to be done.
We with the help of family and friends manage to store some things, the school provide a skip for us and we have to leave everything big like beds, sofa, tables, bedding... we don't know how we will replace these but can't worry about it for now.

We have told the council we need emergency housing and have been told to wait till after 11.. when someone will call us to tell us where we can go..