What do you understand about Sophie Haydock’s experiences and the issues of homelessness? (8 marks) [candidate does not give enough focus to the second part of this question. This is a common problem and their mark was reduced accordingly]
Sophie Haydock was “one of the 50 people who had volunteered” to support the charity, Simon on the Streets.
The typical “rough” night for a homeless person is conveyed through her appreciation of a “downpour”. Homeless people find the things that we hate as things they are grateful for. The issue of “homeless people stealing your blankets” infers that street life is very violated.
She wants to help give these people “breakfast,” “soap” and help them make new friends. It is evident that raising the “£2000” required is going to be “the worst part of the experience.” [the activity would be horrible, but ‘raising the “£2000” would be a good thing, surely. This seems like a mis-reading] The sleep out was a struggle as even finding a place to sleep in was difficult. Other information that I gather is that Sophie has had a sleep out before, but once they had started their actitivies, they were banned. Therefore, I infer that Sophie must be determined to help these people whether it includes camping out on the street more than once.
Although they are trying to live as homeless as possible, I understand that they didn’t explore the much darker sides of streets as they were able to have “hot vegetable soup” which is not what many homeless people have but it is what Simon on the Streets want to provide. Her relief for finding a place under a tree seems quite peculiar, but what I then learn is that a place under a “leafy tree” is a far better experience than a place in “a darkened alley” – a more popular destination for homeless people.
Once again, the carboard box is mentioned, as it has been destroyed by “the early morning rain” but this time showing showing her “dark” but yet fortunate experience as the way she lived was “a million miles” from reality. From this I can infer that many people have a far worse experience on the streets than her – which stress how the “£6500” raised will help, so, after all, it was worth it.
6/8
Detailed and perceptive. This answer picks up on the main points, which is great. It also shows clear signs of interpretation of the significant points of the article (highlighted in green). N.B. Don’t only interpret. You also need to show the facts as this candidate has. This should be 7/8 but the answer almost completely ignores the key facts about Leeds and the Leeds Homeless charity’s work. To raise to 8/8, the answer would need to pick up on a few more facts. Top mark answers are usually pretty long > 1 1/2 to 2 sides in length (small to mid handwriting).
- The charity provides support for homeless people in Leeds – „a soup run, breakfast club, a peer support group‟.
- They also try to keep in contact with people who are difficult to reach or have „slipped through the net‟.
- There are regularly between 50 and 100 rough sleepers the charity deals with in Leeds.
- An accurate number of rough sleepers in any city “can never properly be known.” Homelessness is obviously a problem in big cities like Leeds.
- It costs the Leeds charity about £2000 a year to help just one homeless person. The sleep-out she was part of raised
£6,500. - During her night she toured the „rough-sleeping hotspots‟ and a previous soup run which had to be closed down because the neighbours complained and threw fruit at the soup run, which seems a disgraceful thing to do.