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Sharing a sleeping bag with rats while fighting to stay warm in sub-zero temperatures.

This is just a part of life for the brave "survivors" facing a battle just to stay alive on Newcastle's streets in freezing winter.

As part of an investigation into homelessness across the country, The Mirror joined the ' Changing Lives ' dawn patrol.

The charity has seen a rise in numbers needing help in Newcastle, and it says this is partly due to controversial benefit Universal Credit.

Before first light, from 6.15am, outreach workers Stuart Dawson and Michaela Patterson are out searching for rough sleepers.

They check car parks, doorways, subways, storage space tucked away behind busy thoroughfares like Northumberland Street.

Rats have been spotted in some of the areas, scurrying around rubbish looking for food.



Stuart, 40, and Michaela, 29, find homeless people with little more than cardboard and blankets to protect them against the biting -1C cold when we set off with them from Grey's Monument shortly after 6am.

First, they check for signs of life, making sure they are still breathing. Then they offer assistance, giving details of the charity's drop-in centre which provides food, a hot shower, washing facilities and benefits advice.

(Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)



"People may look all night for somewhere to sleep, and may not find a spot until four or five am," explained Stuart, who gets up at 4.30am to go out on patrol.



"We are Newcastle's alarm clock. When we wake them, they may not always be too happy to see us because it is so early.



"You do see rats at times, especially when it has been raining because the sewers are full and they come to the surface.



"The homeless have told us about rats getting into their sleeping bags.

"One man would open up his bag in the morning and just let them out as they helped him stay warm.



"Another said rats get into his tent and wake him up. It is just a normal part of life for them.

"I don't mind seeing them running around, I'm not scared of them.

"But I would not want to sleep with one."

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Michaela and Stuart are struck by how resourceful the homeless have to be just to get by.

"They build camps, find food, they are vulnerable, but they are survivors," said Michaela.



"I could not sleep for fear of whatever the night might bring. But they adapt."



Stuart, who has worked for the charity for 10 years, starting off in a hostel, adds: "Life on the street has to be mentally, physically exhausting.

"It is not much of a life, it is more of an existence. It ages people.

"Just having a bed for the night, a hot drink, food, takes years off them. They are transformed."

(Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)

Not all those on the streets conform to the homeless stereotypes.



'Mike the Mathematician', 53, under cover by shops next to the city library, is well spoken, intelligent and polite.

He spends his days going to various libraries, moving from town to town. He has been offered support in Newcastle, but is happy alone.

"He goes through the maths sections," explains Michaela after chatting with him as he lies on the pavement in a sleeping bag.

"He has been seen by mental health and social workers. He is deemed to be of sound mind." Stuart adds: "This is his personal choice. He has always said he does not need our support.

"He used to sleep on a bench by the civic centre, it was peaceful, nobody bothered him. He had to move because live music at a local bar disturbed his sleep.



"We first met him about two months ago, all we have got his name and date of birth so far."

A dog walker has alerted the Street Link text service to a man in a subway at Exhibition Park.



At 6.45am, as commuters go past, 'unidentified male' is hidden from the world in his sleeping bag. 'I think I recognise his voice, but I'm not sure," said Stuart.



"Sometimes all you get is a grunt, you know they are alive. We go back to check them later."

(Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)

The three-hour patrol takes us to a car park close to the Marco Pierre White restaurant. An ad urges diners 'treat yourself' yards from where rough sleepers find shelter. Steven Southam, 34, on the streets for the 10 years, tells us: "I would take a flat, but I don't want to be set up to fail again in a hostel."

His friend Dale has been stabbed four times while living rough.

Toni Dickinson, 26, on the street for five years but now in a flat, feels 'really, really sorry' for those still out in the cold.

"I did not want my family to see me like that," she recalls.

(Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)

Delays with Universal Credit mean many are struggling to stay in accommodation. Kevin Waggott, team leader at the Changing Lives drop-in centre, explains how computer access and bank accounts are 'very very difficult' for their clients, with around 15 sleeping rough in Newcastle city centre last November.

"And that leads to difficulties with benefits," he says.



"The alternatives are begging, crime, survival sex work, all very dangerous routes for people to go down if they are not getting access to money."

Changing Lives chief executive Stephen Bell warned the austerity measures combined with Universal Credit were pushing more and more people onto the street.

"It is not just here, it is across the country," he said. "We are seeing it in Durham, York, Manchester.

"Austerity hits those on benefits the fastest. Rough sleeping has risen 150 per cent in five years, and many in our sector think that figure could be much higher."



A DWP spokesperson said: “Universal Credit offers a range of specialised support to people struggling with homelessness and housing issues, including help with opening bank accounts, finding accommodation and budgeting.

"As part of the Rough Sleeping Strategy we have committed to establishing a single point of contact for homelessness issues in every jobcentre.”

Gateshead-based Changing Lives is part of 'Street Zero' in Newcastle, a city-wide system which gets people off the streets and into safe accommodation.