Moghrey Mie Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/bed-and-breakfast-accommodation-used-to-house-islands-homeless/ Well done to the Manx Radio interviewer for trying to get an answer out of Chris Thomas. It will all be wonderful in the future. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwhite Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 24 minutes ago, Moghrey Mie said: https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/bed-and-breakfast-accommodation-used-to-house-islands-homeless/ Well done to the Manx Radio interviewer for trying to get an answer out of Chris Thomas. It will all be wonderful in the future. There seems to be a belief that there isn't any or much homelessness on the Isle of Man. Having done some work with Graih it's definitely not the case. A lot of people sleeping in cars, sofa surfing and such like. Even then and for the most vulnerable, it's extremely difficult to find them anywhere. I know of such accommodation such as these b&bs that was bought by someone recently and they've emptied it out those on bail and such like. Otherwise they would struggle to rent and run it. Can see why a buyer would do this but obviously won't help the situation. That said I also know of a property owner who tried to discuss letting his building to IOMG as a halfway house. He was met with apathy and constant roadblocks and gave up in the end, albeit leaving the offer open should they decide to come back to him. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTeapot Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 If someone is homeless and jobless, to receive a JSA payment the person must attend Markwell House 5 days a week before 10am. Changing that punitive measure to something less unhelpful would be a decent start. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxanne Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 26 minutes ago, jackwhite said: Graih Can someone tell me why it closed? It was doing such good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTeapot Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 12 minutes ago, Roxanne said: Can someone tell me why it closed? It was doing such good work. The guy who was running it, Michael Manning, quit. He is now the Manx Bard. I don't know the official reason. In the world of WILD speculation though, it has been suggested it may have something to do with former manager of David Gray House and Salvation Army man Wayne Tomlinson being a convicted nonce. He was involved in setting up a different homeless charity that had a manx name along the lines of kenmryk (can't remember exactly) which had launched around the same time, it had some 'big name' backers and money from the rotary etc but once they'd all slapped each other on their backs and got their pictures in the paper it quietly went away cos they weren't actually interested in doing any work, whereas MM was. I actually thought he was on the board of Graih but I can't find any evidence of that. Maybe people have been sweeping up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omobono Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 I suppose the thought behind it is to get people out of bed washed ,shaved and into a situation where they are in a position to take a job , and turn up to see whats available , but one of the issues I can't understand is why the hostel is situated in the middle of town with pubs ,off licenses , supermarkets , drug dealers all on the doorstep surly it would be better to have it out of town centre somewhere ,where there is much less temptation to go back to the drugs or alcohol , and some work packages even in the community could be found for those recently released from Gaol , and try to give them a sense of belonging to a community again and earning their keep and gaining some respect , the High Bailiff was correct the system is not working , there is a problem and it urgently requires fixing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
english zloty Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 1 hour ago, TheTeapot said: The guy who was running it, Michael Manning, quit. He is now the Manx Bard. I don't know the official reason. In the world of WILD speculation though, it has been suggested it may have something to do with former manager of David Gray House and Salvation Army man Wayne Tomlinson being a convicted nonce. He was involved in setting up a different homeless charity that had a manx name along the lines of kenmryk (can't remember exactly) which had launched around the same time, it had some 'big name' backers and money from the rotary etc but once they'd all slapped each other on their backs and got their pictures in the paper it quietly went away cos they weren't actually interested in doing any work, whereas MM was. I actually thought he was on the board of Graih but I can't find any evidence of that. Maybe people have been sweeping up. It became Housing Matters. Which is still operating from the same funding model 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 1 hour ago, english zloty said: It became Housing Matters. Which is still operating from the same funding model I thought it reverted back to the Baptist church, nothing to do directly with HM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) I'd have thought things like housing and employment would be sorted well before somebody comes out of jail. Don't they have social workers etc who deal specifically with rehabilitation? Maybe it should be like hospital. You can't be discharged until you have a care package. That might concentrate the minds of the people in charge. What they say on their website does not appear to match reality for some people. https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/departments/home-affairs/isle-of-man-prison-and-probation-service/preparing-for-a-prisoners-release/ Edited March 10, 2023 by Moghrey Mie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x-in-man Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 Wasn't this Hooper's little 'love me coz I know all about it' thing once? Not much seemed to happen after he got a pay rise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A fool and his money..... Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 13 hours ago, Moghrey Mie said: https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/bed-and-breakfast-accommodation-used-to-house-islands-homeless/ Well done to the Manx Radio interviewer for trying to get an answer out of Chris Thomas. It will all be wonderful in the future. I can't work out whether Chris Thomas is just completely out of his depth or whether he's just the worst possible kind of self-serving, self-promoting politician. "rolling out a mattress in the basement of a church was not ideal, so we'll replace it with absolutely nothing for a few years while we have some meetings about meetings, Oh and if you're not happy about that then he's a list of other departments you can blame." What a bloody idiot! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bees Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Who are the homeless people? How did they become homeless? Prison is a bit useless for most of the kids they send there, Chris is probably exasperated by it, I would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asitis Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 15 hours ago, x-in-man said: Wasn't this Hooper's little 'love me coz I know all about it' thing once? Not much seemed to happen after he got a pay rise. Hooper is great for a soundbite and ....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeCurious Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 18 hours ago, Moghrey Mie said: I'd have thought things like housing and employment would be sorted well before somebody comes out of jail. Don't they have social workers etc who deal specifically with rehabilitation? Maybe it should be like hospital. You can't be discharged until you have a care package. That might concentrate the minds of the people in charge. What they say on their website does not appear to match reality for some people. https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/departments/home-affairs/isle-of-man-prison-and-probation-service/preparing-for-a-prisoners-release/ Cue ECHR lawyers et al. Morally and ethically wrong to detain a person who has served their time because the system hasn't got their act together. A new term for the OED 'Cell blocking'. Or would they just get a key so they can come and go as they please? Sounds like Tromode House or whatever the halfway house is called, needs to be expanded somehow and have some of the Markwell House services decanted over. Add an emergency night shelter capacity for anyone who needs it. All the facilties in terms of security and meal prep are proabbaly on site as well as staff who are qualified to deal with the challenges of people who are struggling to cope. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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