Campaign launches to find sick and homeless pensioner somewhere to live

 
Homeless: Marie Patney, 64, is living on the streets of London after becoming a victim of domestic violence (Picture: Hayley Hemingway-Hare)
Hayley Hemingway-Hare
Alexandra Rucki3 June 2015

A campaign has launched to try and find a homeless and sick pensioner somewhere to live after the authorities have been unable to find her shelter.

Marie Patney, 64, was found by passer-by Hayley Hemingway-Hare, 38, struggling to make her way down from some steps in Oxford Street, central London, on Friday.

After helping the woman she discovered she was homeless and not in a fit state having recently suffered from a stroke.

Ms Patney said she spent most of her time travelling on buses to and from Heathrow Airport, where she went to find shelter until she was kicked out.

She said she was originally from South Africa and fled from her English husband after suffering from domestic violence.

The pensioner suddenly began to struggle for breath and Ms Hemingway-Hare decided to phone for an ambulance and try to find her a bed for the night.

Campaign: Marie Patney is back on the streets (Picture: Hayley Hemingway-Hare)
Hayley Hemingway-Hare

She was given the once-over by medics and found to have chest problems, but was back on the streets after spending the night in the hospital until the early hours.

Ms Hemingway-Hare, who lives in Camden, called several councils to try and find her a hostel for the weekend.

She eventually got through to Camden Council, but was told by housing officers they could not help because Ms Patney wrote the Salvation Army’s address on her Freedom Pass.

They were eventually more successful with Westminster Council, who was able to put her up in a hostel.

But Ms Hemingway-Hare was appalled to find she was back on the streets on Monday because the council could not offer her anywhere permanent, because she has no visa from her marriage.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Nearly 2 hours in and still waiting.. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HomeShouldBeSafe?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-34731-https://twitter.com/hashtag/HomeShouldBeSafe?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#HomeShouldBeSafe</a> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChangeTheHomelessSystem?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-34731-https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChangeTheHomelessSystem?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#ChangeTheHomelessSystem</a> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&amp;id=222025&amp;p=http://t.co/1lYKhSMn4G" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-34731-http://t.co/1lYKhSMn4G" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/1lYKhSMn4G</a>— HayleyHemingwayHare (@L6HJH) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/L6HJH/status/605324953773309952" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-34731-https://twitter.com/L6HJH/status/605324953773309952" data-vars-event-id="c23">June 1, 2015</a>

She is now campaigning to try and find Ms Patney a permanent home by tweeting her picture to the authorities, with hundreds of backers on Twitter.

Ms Hemingway-Hare, who is also a domestic violence campaigner, said: “It was absolutely disgusting. Because she had used the Salvation Army as an address for her freedom pass they said there was nothing they could do.

“In the hospital, because she was homeless it was like she was invisible. They listened to her chest, gave her the once over, they said there is nothing else they can do.”

She added: “We are supposed to be the great city of London. How wonderful we are. But they are treating her like she is absolutely no-one.”

A spokesman for Camden Council said: "Westminster Council have a legal responsibility to be available and to assess homeless applications that arise within their borough, as was this case here, and in a similar way we would have responsibility for homeless people found in our borough.”

A spokesman for Westminster City Council said: "We continue to work towards tackling the issue of homelessness in London and aim to support, as much as possible, those in Westminster facing difficulties surrounding this.

“Under current homelessness legislation, some individuals may not be eligible for accommodation due to their immigration status, in which case we offer advice to ensure that an individual can redress any immigration issue they face in the best way possible.

“We also work very closely with our partners and homelessness charities to ensure that an individual is supported and has access to information about services in the area. Where an individual is in need of health care, we will always ensure that they are directed to a relevant service where they will receive the adequate care they need.”

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