Charity shops: Very handy places, they sell cheap (ish) clothes, bedding and useful oddments at low prices. Charity shops vary in price and quality of goods, but it is always worth a look. And people who work there have a good heart and mean well and will usually be helpful if you are polite and fairly presentable.
Charity shop dustbins: I will get shot for putting this in, but I will put it in anyway. A good place to look if you arrive in a new town at night with no bedding. They throw out stained and torn duvets, cushions and blankets that are not saleable, also mugs, pans and other useful and novel things, and ssometimes clothes.
Don't tell aanyone I told you this, and don't leave their bins in a mess, please.
Charities: There are hundreds of thousands of charities, a proportion of them are relevant to homeless people, Shelter is a charity that helps homeless people to be housed - if they want to be housed, the Salvation Army help to feed, clothe and look after homeless people, other charities may offer grants for clothes or food or other help, counselling, support, advice etc, ask at a daycentre or CAB or council office what charities are available locally and what help they provide, or look on the internet.
Comfort: Sleeping rough can be comfortable with the right gear.
You can be comfortable if you have two sleeping bags, plenty of access to cardboard, plenty of bedding, possibly cushions or pillows instead of a backpack pillow, a good hidden sleeping place where you can fall asleep looking at the stars or the rain ( a privilage that house-dwellers miss out on), extra clothing and thermals for cold nights, a good brew kit, hat, scarf and gloves.
when you first sleep rough you may be very tense and afraid of noises nearby, you may not be dressed appropriately and you may not have the help and friends who understand rough sleepers, you may lose old friends who do not understand your situation or accept it, but in time you will make real friends to replace those that you lose, and you will overcome initial problems and life will become more comfortable.
Don't make the mistake of not wrapping up properly when you bed down if you feel warm, the temperature will drop, even in the summer, and at 2am it is at it's lowest and you will wake up cold if not properly wrapped up.
After a while you will sleep soundly through the night, don't be tempted to use drink to help you sleep, it will make you ill and leave you vulnerable.
Some rough sleepers try to stay awake at night and sleep during the day, this is a hellish way of life in my opinion, there is nothing to do and nowhere to go at night and it is not natural to sleep during the day when you could be doing other useful things that are not possible at night, don't restrict your life out of fear of sleeping at night, just keep looking for somewhere harmless and hidden to sleep at night and then you will have the whole day to be productive and look after yourself.
Look after yourself, you are worth it no matter what has happened and no matter what you have been told. Look after yourself and behave yourself, work hard at keeping yourself clean and presentable and improving your quality of life.
I have amazing quality of life at the moment, sometimes it is tough, very tough, but I have managed to get access to healthcare, dentists, eye care, washing facilites, hot drinks, entertainment, I have made friends, someone has offered to wash my clothes, and I do not access a homeless daycentre or soup run regularly or receive outreach, I am independent, doing it my way, and baffling the homeless services. Do thou likewise, it is an amazing life.
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