‘I’m homeless and the safest place I’ve stayed in Bristol is the Bearpit’

Poking his head out of his bright orange tent, I quickly grab the attention of Royston Tillman. It’s 10am on a bright Tuesday morning, and the 27-year-old is packing up his sleeping gear for the day having camped overnight on a raised level inside Bristol’s Bearpit.

The once-notorious spot at the centre of St James Barton Rounadabout might not be the quietest, but there’s plenty of greenery thanks to the Bristol City Council clean-up in 2019, plus with the sun out, it’s easy to see why one area in the corner of the zone might appear appealing to someone is homeless.

“It is the safest place I’ve stayed,” says Royston, who has lived in a number of back-packing hostels and night shelters in the city since arriving from the South American country of Belize in mid-July. Having made the 5,000-mile journey with his three brothers, he arrived in Bristol to find work.

But while waiting for his passport to be processed and with only cash, Royston and his brothers have been restricted to where they can stay due to most places not accepting non-card payments. It’s a difficult situation which has left the four brothers homeless, not that Royston, who is half British, is too downhearted.

“Since coming here everyone has been so welcoming,” he says. “People have helped us by telling us things like where to get food, where we can go to the toilet and where we can apply for housing. It’s now just a short wait, hopefully, until we can get our passports, a place to live and then I can get some work.”

Royston’s brothers, who already have British passports, are already working in construction, But they still rely on the food given out by Bristol Outreach Services for the Homeless, and they are hoping to get a flat through St Mungo’s charity in the coming days.

And at 5pm each day, they pitch up their tent, purchased from Trespass in the city centre, at the Bearpit. Joined by several other homeless campers, they converse with local community before squeezing into their tent for their sleep.

But that is better, and safer, than the backpacking hostels and night shelters they’ve previously been in, says Royston, who does wish hotels would take cash to provide them with a place to stay. It’s a sad irony that Royston’s tent is in the shadow of the huge Premier Inn on the edge of St James Barton Roundabout.

“We brought some money with us, and we’ve spent some since being here, but the problem is we can’t use it stay in alot of places,” he says. “Most hotels and rental agencies only accept cards. That’s difficult for us as we have no cards to use. There should be more places you can use cash.

“We know there are flats you can live in for between £500 and £1,000 - we want to be able to live in one of those and then I can find a job and live will be better.”

But for now, Royston has to wait. Wait on his passport, wait on his housing application. He prepares to walk off to Bristol Outreach Services for the Homeless, before returning to Bearpit later - for how long, he does not know.