9 minute read
Cabin Fever - Joanne Coates
A photo essay looking at the “hidden” crisis of rural homelessness. An unexpected story of hope during a global crisis, and a focus on the problems of those who are forgotten when a pandemic strikes. Americana themed log cabins nestled in the heart of tranquillity provide a different story for five men.
Misty mornings, endless wild and barren moorland, dry stone walls, and pretty villages. I was born and bred in North Yorkshire. I returned to the area after studying photography at the London College of Communication, knowing I couldn’t afford to stay on in the capital.
The journey of this working class northern woman’s route to becoming a documentary photographer wasn’t simple. My teenage years were turbulent, filled with loss and trauma. I had no choice but to try and escape. To do that, at 17 years old, meant becoming homeless.
My work often takes on this personal lived experience. I can’t explain it but there is an element of family connection, the familiar.
This work, Cabin Fever, looks at rural homeless during a pandemic.
Joanne Coates
Looking back to Monday 23rd March 2020, I sat and watched what we all knew was going to be inevitable. Lockdown was announced. Tuesday, I was officially meant to be moving into a farm cottage in rural Northumberland to begin work on a residency with the Centre for Rural Economy and Berwick Visual Arts. My work for the next six months was going to be around gender roles and farming.
I stayed put. A bleak rural landscape, my dog for company, slow internet, and my partner. I found myself becoming restless with a sense of unease at what was happening to the marginalised in our communities.
The Dales are known for picturesque countryside and hay meadows. Rural homelessness is not what springs to mind. House prices in the Yorkshire Dales National Park average just over £317,000 (www.businessfast.co.uk/is-the-second-home-market-damaging-uk-nationalparks), more than double the value for the wider region. These areas are often considered to be affluent. Last year, rural communities saw a rise in homelessness from 9,312 to 17,212 (Figures from Campaign to Protect Rural England).
In rural areas the homeless are rarely visible, sleeping in barns, under bridges, in graveyards, in tents far from public view, going from couch to couch, and sleeping in cars. The effects are still the same.
It is no surprise that unhoused people are the most vulnerable to the Covid virus. There are so many reasons someone can become homeless: a bereavement, a relationship breakdown, the loss of a job, struggling with addiction. In many areas the rising price of homes and lack of affordable housing contributes. It is not just bad luck. In Yorkshire, the rise of homelessness has gone hand in hand with well paid professionals flocking to the area and driving up house prices. There is an on-going need for affordable housing across the whole Richmondshire district (11.3% of households live in affordable housing, mainly renting from social housing landlords (2011 Census)). Prices have inched higher and higher and more properties are second homes. From 2010 to 2016, rural local authorities recorded a 32% rise in cases of homelessness (www.rsnonline.org.uk/rural-homelessness-an-invisible-issue).
I then heard about The Jonas Centre, which helps the rural homeless, and is ten minutes from where I live.
The moors just above the centre. The road leads out to the town of Richmond and Army base at Catterick
Joanne Coates
Joanne Coates
I asked Adam* what he missed the most. He looked at me, and then down at the ground... ‘My one-year-old son’
Adam* is a builder, now out of work. He was living in the back of his van when lockdown began. With the two public health crises of homelessness and coronavirus colliding head-on, he was referred to The Jonas Centre. I first met him on Good Friday. He had arrived on Thursday and was just settling in. I asked Adam what he missed the most. He looked at me, and then down at the ground... ‘My one-year-old son’.
Joanne Coates
Joanne Coates
The Jonas Centre sits in the heart of Wensleydale. This tranquil site with log cabins seems far removed from a pandemic. People often assume there is no poverty in a place like this. The holiday centre offers subsidised cabins for underprivileged families, carers who need a break, adults with special needs and those with disabilities, alongside regular rate holidays. It has now turned itself into a makeshift shelter offering its log cabins to individuals and families who are homeless in the Richmondshire district. When the crisis began Simon Eastwood, the centre director, acted early saying ‘I knew we were going to have to shut down. We had log cabins here that were sitting empty’. He said to the council ‘We’ve worked with you before, providing for the homeless. We want to do it again’.
‘This has saved me in more ways than you could realise’ - Matthew*
Matthew* became homeless after his relationship broke down. He was struggling with alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder, and combat trauma. ‘I couldn’t pay my rent or pay my rates or anything like that. So that’s how I ended up on the streets.’ Three of the men here are ex-forces. The virus has meant that those who were already struggling have become homeless.
Jonny* explains ‘I was evicted from my property last month and was in the process of looking for a private rent, until we went on lockdown’.
The cabins offer a safe space to socially distance and each resident has their own cabin. Built in the 1970s, they have recently been renovated. The internet comes from a red public phone box. The men have laundry facilities, a fridge, a TV, and heating. But there are still problems.
For many of the men it is hard to adjust to this very different lifestyle, and the worry of what will happen next hangs over them. There is a very real possibility of large numbers of people becoming homeless as a result of loss of income during the coronavirus crisis. Almost 17 million people have filed for unemployment benefits in the last three weeks.
‘Hopefully at the end of the pandemic, homeless people won’t have to go back to the streets’ said Matthew*, one of the homeless residents of The Jonas Centre.
Joanne Coates
Lord Bird, The Big Issue founder has said ‘We cannot allow the streets to return to where they were pre-Covid-19. I want the government to say “okay, we will not allow this situation to happen again”. It is crucial that they survive to come out the other side too’.
Coronavirus has already taken the lives of thousands. Now is the time to stop it affecting the futures of thousands more people.
The Jonas Trust charity is a Wensleydale business located at Redmire, near Leyburn, in the Yorkshire Dales. The centre still has room for people or families who find themselves homeless during the pandemic.
The Jonas Centre // www.jonascentre.org
Shelter // www.shelter.org.uk
Crisis // www.crisis.org.uk
SASH // www.sash-uk.org.uk
Rural Services Network // www.rsnonline.org.uk
* Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals
Joanne Coates
I asked the men to put meaningful possessions outside their cabins. The answer was almost always the same, ‘I don’t have anything’ A phone. Sunglasses. A key. A rucksack. A watch.
Joanne Coates
Joanne Coates
Simon runs the centre. He has had to furlough most of his staff and wanted to do something to help the homeless during the pandemic
Joanne Coates
Eric is a volunteer at the centre he is currently looking after the animals and the grounds. He is ex-army and has connected well with the men who are were also in the army
Joanne Coates
Each man has his own cabin The cabins can sleep a family of five
Joanne Coates
A new arrival settles in
Joanne Coates
The internet for the centre comes from the only phone at the site - An old red phone box
Joanne Coates
Many of the men are ex-army Many of the men also have PTSD, anxiety, and combat trauma
Joanne Coates
Joanne Coates
Joanne Coates
Joanne Coates
Joanne Coates
Joanne Coates
Joanne Coates
Joanne Coates
About
The part where we write about ourselves as artists/photographers is always tough. I’m still based in the rural North of England in communities where blowing your own trumpet is frowned upon. I am from a working class background and use documentary photography as a way of telling stories. My main interests are rurality, working life and class inequality.
My work has previously been exhibited in the UK and internationally. I am a member of the Trace, Form and Women Photograph collectives. I am also the director of the arts organisation Lens Think, which encourages people to meet, share, grow ideas and develop photography in the North of England. It aims to fight for class equality and a more creative industry through participation and radical community arts.
What is next?
Next year is going to be very unpredictable. I am going to be working with Scottish multi-instrumentalist and contemporary composer Erland Cooper on a piece of work that will consist of audio recordings and images. The work will look at gender roles around farming.
I will be based in Northumberland until the end of October. The paid residency, with Berwick Visual Arts in partnership with Newcastle University’s Centre for Rural Economy and the Institute for Creative Arts Practice, will explore how artists and academics can collaborate to inform and develop new approaches to rural research. This is really a chance to experiment and focus on a new body of work.
Alongside this I will continue to look at the after-effects of the pandemic on the farming industry in the North East and Yorkshire. I have set up partnerships with fruit pickers and agricultural firms. This will take on the form of a documentary photo essay.
The North East Contemporary Visual Arts Network (NECVAN) has awarded me with a creative space residency and I want to look at how to engage communities in a safe but socially distanced way.
Lastly, I have been commissioned by New Creatives North on a talent development scheme to make brand new work in film. The programme is co-funded by Arts Council England and BBC Arts. I will be making an immersive documentary short around farming and mental health. All of this will be challenging in our current climate, but I am looking forward to making it work.
Social Media: JoanneRCoates
Website: www.joannecoates.co.uk
Joanne Coates
