The British adventurer who spent 60 days on the streets and decided never to give money to the homeless again

Ed Stafford is a former British army captain, adventurer and traveller. As part of the script for the documentary “60 days on the street” for the British television network channel 4, he decided to face an experiment: leaving his son, his wife and his cozy home to be a homeless person for 2 months. Ed had to live in the winter, with no food, no money and no home to find out why people take to the streets and how they really live.

O awesome.club became interested in Ed Stafford’s experiment and decided to tell his readers in detail some difficulties and surprises he went through.

The problem of homeless people is common not only in poor countries. In 2018, there were, in the UK, 320,000 homeless (approximately one person for every 200 residents). More than half of this group lives in London and many homeless are ex-military.

Ed Stafford, who is 43 years old, decided to find out for himself how some people end up on public roads. For that, he took to the streets of London, Manchester and Glasgow.

Ed is one of the most well-known adventurers in the world. He has already covered a distance of more than 6,400 kilometers on foot along the Amazon River, thus entering the Book of Records as the first person to undertake such a trip. During recording to the Discovery ChannelEd spent 60 days isolated in Olorua (a desert island in Fiji), without food, without water, without clothing or tools. There were times when courage completely abandoned him and he became so sensitive that he could cry over any nonsense. There were also days when he suffered from a simply insatiable appetite. But The homeless experience turned out to be the scariest of his career.

Homeless life turned out to be a lot more profitable than Ed thought. During the night, he could get, just by asking for money, between 100 and 200 pounds (between 500 and 1000 reais), more than the average English worker earns at work. He also received food: volunteers distributed hamburgers and other types of snacks to the homeless for free, sometimes in larger quantities than needed.

In Glasgow, Ed counted up to 26 volunteers distributing food, even though there were only 2 homeless people. One of the homeless people even complained that people were feeding him too much. In 60 days, the former soldier gained more than 5 kilos, despite having predicted that he would starve and lose weight. However, it is quite possible that if he continued eating such fatty foods, he could end up suffering from cardiovascular disease.

During the experiment, he also ventured to taste the contents of dumpsters. In one of them, he found a good salad. However, the experience was not the best: chewing, Ed discovered, in the middle of the salad, a chewed gum. In addition, on certain occasions, he was forced to bathe with water from the cafeterias’ toilets. These were the only places where he was able to completely undress and clean the body parts that, by now, were already smelling and itchy.

Ed believed that no one would willingly spend the night shivering in the cold. But he found that many prefer the street to a temporary refuge. One of the men, in 20 minutes, got around £20 by asking pedestrians for money to go to a hostel, but spent it all on drugs.

Ed wasn’t the only fictional homeless person. He found that some even own their own home, but spend the day on the streets to earn money. They claimed the aid would be used to protect themselves from the cold in hostels, but they spent it all on drugs or drink. One such “helpless person”, Darren, claimed that he could sometimes get up to £600 from pedestrians in a night, but usually when he raised £100 he would go home for dinner and a hot shower.

Another “fake beggar”, who now has his own home, after getting out of prison was willing to look for work at first. However, the £8 an hour offered by employers did not convince him. So he opted for an easier way to make money.

According to Ed, even people who do not actually have a home do not need money as much as psychological help and social reintegration. The adventurer confessed that, even though he liked the people he met on the street and made several friends, he would never give them money again — even the real homeless.

Ed, with a new friend, Deana, at her “SPA” (as she calls her getaway).

Despite all the difficulties that the street is supposed to bring, at the end of the experiment, Ed felt a certain pleasure in the total freedom he now had in this new life – mainly due to the absence of routine. He believes that many of the homeless enjoy this carefree lifestyle..

Some ended up on the street to escape their drug-using parents. Others, to escape domestic violence. There are also those who end up on the streets because of difficult childhood situations. In Manchester, Ed met Deana, mother of 6 children. The woman had briefly modeled for British retailers Debenhams and M&S. Her life spiraled out of control when she was 13, her parents divorced and she started living with her mother, who was a drug user. At the age of 15, Deana fell in love with a boy, with whom she had her children. Now they live with her father while she is forced to escape the cold in a temporary shelter built with tents and old carts. She is chemically dependent and suffers a lot from being separated from her children. The woman was happy with the possibility of sharing her home with the adventurer and even invited him to eat some cookies.

Deana dries her socks on the wall of a police station.

During the experience, Ed had to face aggression and drugs, witnessed the struggle between homeless people for a favorable place, as well as being chased away by the police under threat of arrest for asking for a juice. One time, his sleeping bag got wet because someone had relieved him of it. And that wasn’t the worst: some homeless sleeping bags were set on fire! Finally, after spending some time on the street, Ed returned to the place where he had spent the night with Deana. It was then that he realized that the refuge had been removed and she was no longer there.

Do you believe that, also here in Brazil, some people live on the streets simply because they prefer this lifestyle? What, in your opinion, should the homeless shelter system look like? Give your opinion in the comments!