THE men and women that live on the streets of Southampton often have diverse and complex issues surrounding homelessness, including substance/alcohol addiction and mental health problems.

However, that does not stop them from being human beings, which as I notice a lot of people in this city seem to forget.

I walk through the main heart of the city centre everyday and I cannot fail to notice that every 30 or 40 feet there is a homeless man or woman sat in a door way completely alone or with other homeless people.

This issue is progressively getting worse and these individuals need help.

There are people that do want to help such as the charity The Society of St Jameswhich aids over 2,500 people a year struggling with homelessness in Southampton.

However, the fact is the average life expectancy of a homeless person is 47 years for men and 43 years for women.

This compares to 78.6 years for men and 82.6 years for women in the general population.

Statistics show that even though there are charities that help, the figures of homelessness is steadily rising regardless.

Last month I walked past a gentleman possibly in his late forties but looking older, cramped in a doorway of a derelict shop wrapped in only a sleeping bag. In the early hours of the morning it was freezing outside and raining.

He was holding a handwritten sign on cardboard that read “Please help. Someone stole my shoes in the night.”

I was absolutely disgusted that someone would do that to this poor man who was clearly in need of desperate help. Imagine if this man was my father? I thought.

Then again another homeless person could have stolen them from him.

Giving him all my spare change I went on my way. All day I couldn’t shake the feeling that I should have done more for him.

So later I went back and asked his size in shoes, went to the nearest sports shop and bought him decent pair of hard wearing boots. He actually welled up with tears when I gave them to him.

Much later I was glad to see that he was wearing those boots and the sign had disappeared. Someone asked me, “What if he just wrote that sign so someone would be more likely to give him money?”

This was a possibility I had already thought, then again what if he genuinely did not even own a pair of shoes?

I would rather go away thinking I had helped a man in need then doing absolutely nothing like everybody else.

If he was lying so be it, he gained a nice new pair of boots and I helped him that day.

The point is, I feel people should stop and consider these human beings instead of pretending they don’t even exist or think the worst of them which is what the majority of Southampton do.

SINEAD LEANNE MORRISON, Address supplied.