"I'm not your typical homeless person"

BEN PARSONS reports on one such man's quest to work while living under canvas.

Ray Slater is looking for a job.

Like thousands of others in Sussex, he visits a job centre, updates his CV, searches the internet for vacancies and waits eagerly for replies from employers.

He carefully ekes out his Jobseeker's Allowance, and relaxes in the evenings by watching films on his computer.

Only one thing sets Ray apart from the rest of the herd - the 48-year-old has been living in a tent for the last eight years.

While he has no ambition to live in a house until he can pay for it himself, he believes living rough is an obstacle to getting steady work.

He says: "It s a competitive market.

"You just need an employer who is going to be sympathetic.

"See what is in front of you before you see the stereotype you expect. I am not that stereotype."

The street drinking and drug addiction that afflict so many of Brighton and Hove s homeless play no part in Ray s life.

His tent is kept clean and orderly.

He uses a pay-as-you go dongle to go online on his laptop, rarely uses his mobile phone, and listens to the a radio to keep up with the news.

Ray is mainly occupied by finding work, or taking the steps which could make that possible.

Rather than fearing the consequences of possible spending cuts in the welfare state, he says: "My benefits work out to 11 hours, 20 minutes of minimum wage work.

"I would not mind working for my benefits.

"To function in this day and age, you ve got to earn your money."

Ray has been living rough, mainly in tents, since voluntarily giving up his housing association flat on Merseyside in 2002.

Over the years he has grown weary and cynical about the help available to him.

He says: "When I was in Liverpool I signed off for 18 months.

"I went to five specialist agencies who are supposed to help people in difficult circumstances.

"They were talking shops. They wanted to push you into training and talk about your situation, rather than source you work with sympathetic employers who were willing to give you a chance."

Ray left Liverpool in April and stayed in Penzance, Exeter and Bristol before arriving in Brighton in August.

He has not always been without a job since he started sleeping rough.

He held down one post, as a security guard, for 20 months, before the position was axed.

Even before he became homeless, though, his lifestyle had hindered his chances of finding and keeping work.

He is constantly trying to open a bank account but has received repeated knockbacks.

He says: "I am a person who has got limited ID.

"I have never had a driving licence, I have never had a passport.

"When it comes to a bank account, I'm at the bottom of an uphill struggle.

"We are living in an electronic age. Employers do not like paying cash."

The Post Office account through which Ray receives his Jobseeker's Allowance cannot be used to bank wages.

One job, making parts for fridges, ended because he did not have a bank account.

He says: I was working in a moulding factory, injection moulding making fridge shelves.

"I was only in there five days. I couldn t open a bank account, even though I had a job and wages ready to go in.

"The bank was saying, 'we had to have a driving licence, ID'. That job went down the swanny."

On a daily basis, particularly when looking for a job, Ray has to get over people s preconceptions about his life.

He says: "I'm not your typical homeless person.

"I'm not an addict, or an alcoholic and I ve not got mental health problems.

"A lot of people are surprised I'm living the lifestyle I live.

"They don t appreciate the standard that you re setting.

"Everybody thinks you re living in a cardboard box. It's not the case."

Apart from the struggle to find work, living in a tent creates basic problems most of us do not have to face.

Ray is currently trying to find somewhere suitable to wash regularly, after weeks paying to use the Prince Regent Swimming Complex in Jubilee Square.

Salvation Army showers are only available once a week and Ray finds the time allowed is limited.

He is trying to persuade a Kemp Town hostel to allow him to use their showers.

The fact that while using the services he relies on he frequently meets people with serious problems can be depressing.

He says: "It doesn't help. Life is hard enough.

"You're on an uphill struggle, there are people who come along and say: 'I m going to be a rock in your way on your uphill struggle'."

The approach of winter is already taking its toll.

Ray has bought thermal clothing for his joints after finding his knees affected by the cold.

He says: "This cold snap is taking it out of me.

"I ve been fighting a cold off. I ve been sleeping in my jeans and my shirt.

"On Wednesday night it was that cold, I slept with my fleece on."

While Friday s blue sky makes for a pleasant day, Ray views it with foreboding.

He says: "All the warm air is going to disappear, the cold air is going to sink in."

Getting around was difficult until he found a bicycle which had been left outside a house with a note saying it was free to take.

That gives him the chance to go to Antifreeze in Portland Road, Hove, a day centre run by the charity Off The Fence.

Here he can use a microwave to cook his own food, giving himself muchneeded warmth, and charge the batteries on his phone and computer.

Unsold food supplied by businesses under the city s FareShare scheme is also available.

Ray says: "I buy my own food. I don t go up there and pick it out.

"I let all the others have their pick first.

"Whatever's left, I take my choice."

Ray also accesses soup kitchens around the city to make sure he can take a flask of tea back to the tent to keep himself warm.

Depending on the opportunities in Brighton he may stay here for the winter his ninth under canvas or move elsewhere.

Over the years he has been living in secluded corners of parks or derelict land, he has had many setbacks.

He has twice returned to his tent to find it had been burnt down, and has also had tents stolen.

These events have not deterred him from the lifestyle he leads.

Ray says: "I don t feel vulnerable.

"I have been doing this for eight years. I have had so much stuff robbed offme, had so many tents burnt.

"You just pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start again.

"That is the way I deal with things. What can you do but strive on?"