INVESTIGATION: What’s life like for Glasgow’s homeless? Our reporter sleeps rough

10pm - I have only been in the city centre for a matter of minutes and I've spotted at least half a dozen doorways set up as beds or people who are actually already sleeping. The weather is particularly wet and windy and the streets are really busy with people leaving bars and restaurants.

10:20pm – I meet Brian*, he tells me he has been sleeping rough since he was in his late teens. He’s 26 now. He tells me his parents died within a few weeks of one another and he turned to drugs to cope with the grief. He says he hates his life and the way people treat him. He says sometimes male clubbers use his sleeping bag as a toilet; he’s powerless to stop them.

10:50pm – A group of men and women have gathered round Brian and I. They want to know who I am and what I am doing. Kirsty* tells me she wanders the streets until early in the morning because she is having problems with her landlord. She’s been told not to go back to her flat because of rent arrears, but she still has a key and goes back to get some sleep under the cover of darkness.

11:05pm – A few doors down on Argyle Street I meet Sarah, who's already in tears. She's been sleeping rough for 3 and a half years. She tells us she's on the run from a violent ex-partner who beat her and left her for dead when she was pregnant. She says she is at breaking point and has accepted she is going to die on the streets. Her friend Kathleen says many women living on the streets often go home with men just to a have warm bed for the night.

11:25pm – Kathleen says she has to go and get the last bus home. Sometimes she stays and sleeps out with Sarah but she’s been given a place in a hostel and has a curfew. She takes some of Sarah’s clothes with her to wash.

11.45pm - A group of men pass and make rude remarks. I ask Sarah if she ever feels threatened. She tells me someone tried to rape her the week before and passers-by did nothing.

1.50pm - I say goodbye to Sarah and decide to find my own bed for the night. I'm not sure where to start my search and despite being well wrapped up I'm already soaked to the skin.

Midnight

12:40am - I've wandered to George Square and found some recycling bags with cardboard boxes poking out and take two. They will line which ever door way I pick to try and sleep in. It is still raining and getting colder. Despite my many layers of clothes I am freezing. My senses are all heightened. There's a rubbish smell following me which I've never noticed before. I'm also realising how grubby and dirty some of the doorways and pavements are.

1:05am - After wandering along Ingram Street I settle on the doorway of Bacchus on Glassford Street. It's close enough to busy areas if I find myself in any danger and far enough away to avoid accidentally choosing someone else's 'patch' to sleep in. My feet are cold, wet and sore. I've been wandering around the city in freezing conditions for well over three hours now.

1:20am - A police van drives past me and for the first time in my life it's no longer a comfort to see them. I'm worried they will move me along and I'll need to pack up and keep wandering the streets until I find the next dry and clean looking doorway.

1:30am

2am - It's really noisy. It's midweek and I expected it to be quieter but there's been a steady stream of cars and pedestrians passing. Some of them look in my direction, others just keep on walking. No one tries to talk to me.

2.30am - The police pass again, they glance in my direction but nothing more. I'm afraid to get all the way into my sleeping bag, or take my shoes off in case I need to make a quick getaway. I am shattered but I don't think I'll be able to sleep, I'm too scared.

3AM

3.40am - I make a conscious decision to try and sleep but every time I close my eyes I become aware of another sound I hadn't noticed before. There are footsteps, shouting, cars idling, the chain on a nearby gate rattling in the wind and somewhere in the distance a shop alarm is blaring.

4am - I drift off for a couple of minutes but a passing taxi jolts me awake. I check the time and realise it'll be light again soon and the early workers will be starting their days. I'll need to move from my spot and start mine too...

*Name has been changed to protect the person’s identity.

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