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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Dalya Alberge

Film-maker revisits her homeless past to show rough sleepers’ plight

Rough sleeper in London
A rough sleeper in London. ‘When we think of homeless people, we think of them as “others”,’ says Tucker. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The film-maker Lorna Tucker was once a teenage runaway, sleeping rough in London for 18 months. Twenty-five years later, she has relived the harrowing experience for a documentary, returning to her former haunts and speaking to homeless people at a time when record numbers are living on Britain’s streets.

She was reunited with some of those she left behind, including “Darren”, who has been on the streets since his alcoholic mother was unable to care for him. “Darren sleeps where I used to sleep under Waterloo Bridge,” she said. “He still has the same eyes he had as a 15-year-old boy. He’s still got this beauty, but obviously he’s been very affected by it.”

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