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Meeting the Creator of Manchester's Unauthorized Camp for the Homeless

Because of budget cuts, the "Ark"—built by homeless man Ryan McPhee—is the only emergency homeless shelter in Manchester. Now, the council wants to shut it down.

Manchester is an English city in the midst of a homelessness crisis. A lack of both temporary and long-term housing, as well as cuts to government funding, have severely affected the number of people sleeping rough in the area, causing a situation that has led to homeless people not only moving to dismally unsuitable, out of the way places, but setting up camp right in the city center.

Since early this year, various homeless camps emerged in bustling areas of Manchester. However, at the end of July, the council was granted an injunction that bans the homeless from entering, sleeping, or setting up camps in the city center. The penalties for flouting this ban include a possible two years imprisonment, plus a fine of up to £5,000 [$7,673]. A council official denied that the injunction was intended to "criminalize individual homeless people who are sleeping rough."

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The council has also said it "cannot be expected to tolerate the level of disruption" the homeless camps had caused, which they say includes "vandalism, public urination, fighting, burning of bonfires, and the intimidation of members of the public." One homeless camp facing particular opposition is the Ark, founded by homeless man Ryan McPhee in April and located under the Oxford Road flyover, next to university buildings and a busy high street.

A possession order for the land the Ark is on was granted last week, and the camp and its supporters—over 2,000 of whom have signed a petition calling for the Ark to be allowed to remain at the site—have until tomorrow to appeal.

Meeting Ryan a few days ago, he recounted to me the people who contributed to make the Ark a suitable living area for around a dozen people; builders, students, university staff, and strangers who may not have paid him another glance if he'd been in a doorway.

Ryan McPhee

VICE: Hi Ryan. How did you start building the Ark and how did it reach this point?
Ryan McPhee: Before I started the Ark I used to live and sleep here in a cardboard box. I eventually got a tent and had a mate stay here with a tent. We got a storage tent, a table off the university, another tent, and some water drums. I bought a generator, a battery, someone donated a couch, I bought a tarpaulin from Poundland, got nails off builders. Even the students and staff were helping me out with things—marker pens, drawing pins, anything they could do to help.

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Within the space of two weeks this was built, and since then we've got more stuff. We can watch TV and DVDs; we have mains power; we can cook food; we have Portaloos; a first aid box; a kitchen pantry; cleaning stuff. We have a really good setup going.

What's the process for rough sleepers looking to stay at the Ark? What do you expect from them?
If you're homeless and need help, come in, and we'll have a talk about it. We're not going to put you up here if you're just going to take the piss and take-take-take. We want to know that you're going to your appointments, trying to get help, and looking to get off the street. If you come here with an "I'm on the street now, let's crack on with it" attitude, I'm not going to help you.

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How have people who've been here progressed?
There's a guy here, Marcin, who you can see playing the bongos around Manchester. He's been failed by the system and hasn't received any help, so I've put him up here and made sure he's got what he needed. Now he's been able to go into town, leave his suitcase here, and play his bongos down the road. He met a woman who let him borrow a work van, so now he can start to do some work and, when he can pay her back, he'll have the van. He was homeless, sleeping here a few days ago, and now he's not.

In its opposition to the Ark, the city council alleges "vandalism, public urination, fighting, burning of bonfires, and the intimidation of members of the public." How do you respond to these claims?
This incinerator bin was only brought here a week ago; it's clearly not a bonfire. Public urination? We have two Portaloos. I do so much cleaning with bleach and antibacterial spray—where's the cleanliness issue? If you look around you won't see any alcohol containers. That's a rule I enforce, making sure people aren't drinking openly. I don't mind people drinking—everyone has their vices and that—but you have to work with people instead of telling them what they can and can't do. We don't let people drink freely here, but when it gets to the evening, we don't mind you having a drink—it's a part of everyday life.

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A resident of the Ark reading the paper

What have your recent interactions with the council been like?
If they had any concern, they'd stop here daily, because they know this bridge is a shelter for homeless people—it has been for years. Really, the Ark being here is a good thing. What it needs is to be properly managed, with the proper authorities to come and ask, "What new people do you have in today? What assistance do they need? Where do they need to go?"

When you became homeless, what was your experience in trying to get help?
I went through the system of going to the council and registering as homeless, and they gave me help and assistance. But the system's set up so you're going round in circles and keep failing. Basically, they put you on benefits, so you get, say, £60 [$92] a week to live on. Twenty-five pounds [$38] goes to your local hostel, so you have £35 [$54] to pay your bills, eat, and live on. Then they give you appointments to go to medical assessments in places like Liverpool, so you have to spend the week's money on traveling over there.

A sign at the camp

Having been in the system, what parts of it do you think need to change?
The assessment services need to change drastically. The hostels that people stay in need to clean their act up. Absolute shitholes. You know silverfish [A small insect]? You can have a thousand of them under your feet, you turn the light on, and it's just "Urgh!" No washing machines or dryers, but you've just come off the street and you need that stuff. They just stick you in a building.

You've repeatedly described the Ark as not a protest, but isn't there a political aspect to it for you?
It's made me more… aware. To me, this is personal. I'm not a political person; that's for people in suits and ties to fight over. I used to judge people. My opinions used to be a lot different. But from just talking to everyday people, people giving me the time of day, asking questions or being curious, it's changed for me.

If the land possession order is carried out, would you start all over again?
If we're not here, we're going to be cold and wet… I built this… to see it get destroyed—you're crazy.

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