Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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Vocal critic

December 08 2010
A reader dislikes The Pavement


Dear Editor,

From my experience of having read The Pavement since its appearance, I do not think I have noticed a feature concerning the 'hidden homeless'.

You probably already know what I am referring to, individuals not included in official figures or seen by meandering project workers due to the isolated or unlikely places they sleep. Why don't you try to run a news item on this subject?

It seems to me the magazine is just another tabloid rag uninformed about the subject matter you attempt to convey; mocking the underclass in the process. Arsehole.

Also, some of the listings in the second part of the magazine naming what churches, and soup runs provide food etcetera to the destitute either no longer exist or have ceased catering for street people. Some of the information you are printing within these pages is out of date, and misleading at best. There are plenty of churches you have not mentioned helping the lost and vulnerable survive; neglected from The Pavement through typical, lazy journalism. I know all of this through personal experience and word of mouth from colleagues, associates, and friends upon the street; a world I earnestly doubt you know little.

Thanks for fuck all.

Full name supplied


To misquote Renee Zellweger in Jerry Maguire, "you lost me at 'arsehole'". Up to that point, I was taking your letter seriously.

However, I will try to answer some of your criticisms, so that they cast light on how we operate. We're aware that some of the data in The List may be out of date, but until people point out errors, we can't correct these. Your letter was not accompanied by any suggestions of specific incorrect information, nor have we received any suggestion from you prior to this letter, so how do you expect it to be updated? The List is a good resource, updated at least every month - this month there are eight updates and two added services - and improving all the time, but it needs people to point out any shortcomings so that they can be corrected. As often as not, corrections and suggestions come from readers rather than agencies.

We received six versions of your letter after this one, but no suggestions on improving The List.

Now to our "lazy journalism". We rely on professional volunteers for most of our work. We have three editions distributed in seven cities, but only one part-time paid member of staff. The journalists are not lazy.

Richard Burdett, Editor

PS: I'm the one part-time paid member of staff.

PPS: We have run a number of articles on hidden homeless people as we have reported on the inadequacy of official counts in the past.

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