GRAFFITI calling for “no more homeless deaths” has been scrawled over a disused BHS store after a man was found dead in one of the busiest streets in Scotland.
The body of a man was discovered on Tuesday morning in Glasgow’s Trongate area and homeless charities fear that freezing temperatures may have caused his death.
The incident has led to calls from campaigners to open up all available empty buildings to protect rough sleepers and prevent any future deaths.
Now, a photo has emerged on social media of writing on an old British Homes Stores building in the city, calling for it to be opened up to provide shelter.
Posting on Twitter yesterday, Caitlin Rose shared two images of the graffiti with the caption: “After a homeless man froze to death in Glasgow, this is plastered into BHS. Make it happen.”
The first photo shows the words: “No more homeless deaths,” written in bold, red capital lettering over the empty windows of the old department store.
Whilst the second picture shows the doors at the entrance with the words: “Let them in,” written in the same red writing.
Caitlin later tweeted: “I say a man but he was only 20, and had been homeless since he was 16. It’s not b****y right.”
Her tweet has been retweeted 1,400 times with a further 2,500 likes, whilst fellow Twitter users have been quick to reply to her post.
Paul Harden wrote: “This is Scotland, there shouldn’t be any homeless, it’s a choice people make sadly. God rest him.”
Another user commented: “Glasgow City Council are b****y useless and prefer to waste money on revamps that aren’t needed than help the needy.”
Whilst Craig Paterson shared an image of a group of protesters holding up a banner with the words: “homelessness shames Glasgow” as they stand on Buchanan Street in the city.
Police were called to the scene at 9.10am on Tuesday morning but later confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances around the death.
However, homeless campaigners fear the snow and freezing temperatures caused the man’s death.
Speaking at the time, John Glackin from Streets Kitchen said: “I have heard via people working on the ground that it was a homeless person who died this morning.
“There are too many needless deaths on our streets, we need to open up all available empty buildings immediately so as to simply ensure that no more people die before their time and get a chance at life without the hardships of surviving on our freezing cold streets.”
Homelessness charity Shelter today criticised the safety procedures in place to help prevent such tragedies.
Alison Watson, Deputy Director of Shelter Scotland, said: “I am desperately saddened to hear of the loss of a young life in such lonely and isolated circumstances, clearly the housing safety net which is meant to catch people in crisis failed in this instance.
“Shelter Scotland estimates 5,000 people sleep rough on our streets each year which is a disgrace and the most shocking and visible evidence of our housing crisis.
“A key aim of our Homelessness: Far From Fixed campaign is that no-one should have to sleep rough and that is why we are calling for a new national homelessness strategy which will take a whole-system approach to tackling the problem.”
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “This was a tragic death and a police investigation is currently on-going.
“It would be inappropriate to comment on the cause of death until a post-mortem has been concluded.
“Our street team works in the city centre every day to engage directly with people affected by homelessness and to direct them to them to available support.
“The reasons for homelessness can be complex and moving on from a chaotic lifestyle can be very difficult.”
