A City of Contrasts.

Birmingham is an amazing vibrant and busling city and yet it also has such a huge constrast in the way that there are those who have, and those who have not and you really do see it all here I have noticed.

I know that many towns and cities are just like here in Birmingham, with the void of money and no money. In Warwick of late I have also seen the difference. It became apparent when I saw a man sitting on a wall by Sainsbury asking for change. When he had left, he left behind all of his rubbish, which I found very distasteful.

In Birmingham I have seen lots of men walking around the city with their sleeping bags wrapped around them or they are sitting on street corners asking for change.

Why is it mostly men?

When did urinating in public become acceptable?
Men urinating in public, in full view of young children, this cannot be acceptable. The stench is very pugnant and certainly lingers in the nostrals, which is very unpleasant.
I am sure when we came to Birmingham a few years ago, there was no where near as much of this going on, or maybe I was just blinkered and never saw it.

There also seems to be a huge amount of rubbish lying around in the centre of Birmingham.

Is this due to cuts?

Along the canal in Gas Street etc it is all very tidy, because a cleaning team goes out and tidies up before the crowds arrive, but if you stroll around the back street, litter is piled up and blowing along the streets like tumbleweed. It is sad to see our country as a rubbish bin, because that is how it comes across and I am sure that is how it must look to our visitors.

We have spent the last few days doing a lot of walking around Birmingham, our step counters have been on over drive, which is great. If you want o catch-up on where we have been please go to Hadar’s blog http://www.hadar.org.uk/ Keith keeps her blog up to date.