Description:I was brought up around here, and the Handsworth area. I didn’t really have any trouble, I was going to school in the morning and by the time I got back I wasn’t going to hang around on the streets. So to me, the rumours that it was a bad area didn’t affect me as I didn’t go out late at night.
I’ve been here 7 years. I actually heard we were going to be moved not long after I moved in. They were supposed to be building a gym and a load of shops. Then it changed, it was supposed to be office blocks and then private apartments, swimming pools and all that. I think it would do the area good.
I’ve asked for a house, because of the baby. They said they could move me out and then back but I wanted a straight move. You hear it again and again, people get the place decorated and then they’re moving again. I’m just hoping that the area stays mixed. I don’t seem to come across any racism, and I just hope it’s the same for him, he’s accepted no matter what nationality he is.
This is my area, my home. I’ve never been mugged – sometimes I do think it can be your face, if you look soft then people are going to try it on with you. I’ve always got a face on anyway…
I think the changes are good, it’s been a long time coming but now you can actually see the building work being done, it’s something for you look forward to, keeps your spirits up. You see them taking their coffee break and you think, ‘you aint got time to do that…’ It’s a new start for me when the new places get built, a new flat, a new life for me and the baby, it’s going to be nice and clean – this flat is so dusty it’s unbelievable, the muck from the main road gets through the windows. I do hope they’ll stick to what they said, that they’ll soundproof the properties, because that’s one of the biggest problems. That way you don’t get so much hassle.
I’ve come in to this block and I’ve seen somebody weeing downstairs and she’s gone, ‘sorry.’ I’m like, ‘never mind sorry, I live in this block.’ The caretaker’s pretty good actually, he keeps the place very clean. I’ve seen him moving rubbish out of the hallways. But people fill up the big black bin bags and they know they can’t fit it down the chute.
I’m here most of the time and it’s a shame really, you don’t realise how many people are in the same situation. I can go to my mom’s, sit in the garden for a couple of hours, somebody else gets to look after him for a bit. I will generally talk to any body but I only have my photograph taken when I’ve had a couple of drinks…
I think my new place will be lovely for a year or two and then it’ll go right down the hole, but I’m hoping that because they are selling some of the properties off that it will stay clean and tidy, people will have respect for their houses and the area and each other, hopefully.