A couple that have been homeless for more than a year and taken up residence in a park have shared how they keep their tent spotlessly clean despite their tough personal circumstances.

The couple are being supported by rough sleeper teams in Stoke, and earlier this week managed to secure accommodation for Sam’s boyfriend, leaving her behind in her makeshift campsite in The Dingle, Porthill.

Speaking to StokeonTrentLive, Sam explained that the pair of them are “clean and respectable people”, which is why they’ve kept their tent home so remarkably neat, with the bed arranged and shoes stored away.

She said: “We have our own bin which we put our rubbish in and we keep our tent tidy. All the furniture and products are things other people have thrown out and are still in great condition.”

Their biggest issue was food, especially because they can’t always cook it without facing complaints.

Sam said: “We struggle for food sometimes, especially because we can’t always cook it. People give us donations and we go to food banks, but we have to make a small fire to cook the food on.

“People then call the police over this and we are made to put the fire out which means we don’t end up eating. Families and other people light disposable BBQs and make fires and nobody has a problem when they do it, it’s just because we’re homeless so people assume we’re trouble.”

Brighter Futures has now managed to find accommodation for Sam too.

She said: “We didn’t want to be without each other to be honest, we wanted someone to find us a place to live together – that’s why we’re homeless in the first place.”

Sam added: “Although we’ve been split up and put in different places, we’ll still spend as much time together as we can.”

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