The Rough Sleeping Mental Health Project (RAMHP) team hosted a film screening of “What Happened to Jimmy” on Thursday, February 29 from 5.30 to 8pm in the Trust HQ to raise awareness on homelessness and learn new possibilities. The film was created by marketing agency Here and Now 365, who collaborated with RAMHP on the event.
Homelessness is not always a choice
Rikke Albert, Consultant Nurse at Tower Hamlets Centre for Mental Health and Service Lead for the RAMHP, opened the screening and introduced the key speakers, one of whom included Deputy Chief Executive, Edwin Ndlovu, who described his personal connection to the cause.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. As an organisation, we are very committed to this work of population health. It’s a fantastic opportunity to show people if you want some hope, take a look at this. Especially for those without a voice.”
In the opening, Khushnaz Mubaraki, representing Here and Now 365, added: “I hope this film creates empathy in people to realise homelessness is not always a choice.”
Rough sleeping and mental health
The film was shown for a duration of 18 minutes, with the actors in attendance at the front row.
The story showed how adverse childhoods can lead to homelessness. The main character, Jimmy, was shown on a journey that started with abandonment by his mother and being left to starve as a child. We later saw emergency services tend to Jimmy and extract him from his home before he was put into care.
Throughout periods of his life, Jimmy was told by people that they are “just trying to help”, whenever he is turned away. He was also unable to register for GPs because he had no address and revealed he cannot use a shelter’s address because the other people there tried to steal the belongings he had left, making it unsafe.
Jimmy later made friends with another homeless man, after he stole his blanket, but couldn’t leave the other man to freeze as he refused to move from his spot under the bridge. When Jimmy’s new friend is attacked by teenagers, Jimmy rushes him to A&E where the staff treat both of them with care and respect. However, Jimmy is triggered from past traumatic events when a staff member tells him, “I’m only trying to help”.
Q&A
Dr Dave Baillie, Associate Clinical Director for Inpatient Services and Newham Rehabilitation Lead, led the Q&A discussion following the film. He added that the RAMHP team were planning to train doctors the following week and show them the film with examples of how to interact and assist homeless people who come in to their services.
Dr Baillie also added that the life expectancy age of rough sleepers is 44 years old for men, and 43 years old for women.
The actors shared how they played lived experiences in the film. One actor said that he had observed homeless people in Elephant and Castle for two weeks and it was a bad experience in seeing the realities of how they are treated – “nobody cares”.
What will you do?
To close the event, Rikke extended a thank you to everyone involved and encouraged action.
“This film can start a conversation of ‘what can you do?’ What little thing can you do when you come across a homeless person?”