BULLIED, beaten and forever dodging the depraved individuals who target vulnerable homeless women like her - life on the streets in Reading is no joke. 

The Chronicle has been investigating the plight of the town's rough-sleeping population - and has spoken to a number of homeless people about their experience.

One of them is Pippa, whose name has been changed at her request. She has been homeless for five years and is currently being helped by St Mungos. 

Begging from a busy town centre spot, she has bravely shared her experience of her daily struggles of not knowing what's going to happen next.

She says the streets are a 'violent place' where predators target vulnerable homeless people - and says she has quickly learnt to be tough to defend herself. 

Pippa's story is a stark reminder that all of us are only a pay cheque away from disaster - she once had a full-time job and a family before she fell onto hard times.

Battling a drug addiction cost her everything and although she is now clean and is being supported by Reading-based charity St Mungos, breaking away from the life she has lived for the last half-a-decade is not easy. 

“I’m a recovering addict,” she said. “I know from experience that there are two groups of people out here, the people that actually have nowhere else to go and those with drug issues.

“A lot of those people target rough sleepers because they think they’re getting the money. I’ve been bullied, I have scars but I’ll always stand up for what I believe in.”

Pippa says she was forced to 'get tough' and defend herself on numerous occasions, leading to violent confrontations. 

The reality of living on the streets means you are constantly exposed to the public - and you face either the generosity of strangers, the wrath or even their ambivalence. 

In a heartbreaking message, she urged Reading residents to remember: "We're people too." 

She said she wished people wouldn’t be in such a rush when passing those on the streets. “We’re people too,” she said. “I wish more people would see us in this way.”

Jacob* also had a full-time job before he suddenly became homeless after his ex-partner threw him out.

Bravely opening up about his ordeal, he said he was forced to juggle being homeless at the same time as trying to remain employed. 

He said: “I had a full-time job, I had no idea what to do. I was rough sleeping on the streets and sometimes on friend’s sofas. To handle having a job and being homeless at the same time cost me my mental health.”

According to Launchpad - a leading homelessness charity in Reading, In early 2023 the number of people sleeping rough in England rose for the first time in four years. 

Reading is also the second highest area in the South East for rough sleepers after London, which increased since the previous count

The man then met Grace Gomez who runs the charity The Way Ministry who have just opened a night shelter on North Street in central Reading. “She was very kind,” he said. “They provided me shower and clothes among other things. This really helped me get back on my feet again."

This allowed him to have somewhere safe to sleep so he could go to his job every day, and he was eventually able to move into his own flat.

Jacob said he can see why the homeless cycle is so difficult for people to get out of - and why they may turn to substances for comfort. He said: “I can understand why some people on the street just give up. They go into alcohol or drugs, they don’t care about themselves anymore because it is a hopeless situation. I don’t blame them.

“How can you go back to a normal life standard when being homeless is not a normal life standard?”

He said that when he was sleeping rough there were a lot of temptations that could have sent him down the wrong path. He never told his family that he was homeless due to the shame surrounding his situation.

“People just don’t want to help you. People are selfish, they don’t want to sacrifice their own time, food, or accommodation," he said. 

Jacob praised The Way Ministry and said the group has faith that others may not have. “They have been such a help to me,” he said.

Another line here about stats .. how many people currently homeless in Reading

The leading charities tackling homelessness in Reading are St Mungos, Launchpad, and The Way Ministry.

The public is encouraged to make donations directly to the services rather than giving money to those begging on the streets.