David Fussell: ‘My old crowd of contacts are not there any more really’

DAVID Fussell has been sleeping in a tent in Tottenham Court Road for more than a decade now.

I first met him outside the Heal’s department store; he had a hard drive in his bag containing a half-finished film he had shot in Wales before he became homeless and bought a one-way ticket to Paddington.

The Mystic Demon Killer ended up being screened to great acclaim at a wonderful event organised by Vice at the Screen on the Green in Islington.
He had edited it on library computers.

His day-to-day life now involves getting up early, selling calendars and art, polishing his latest film scripts and writing music.

He has held down jobs in Next clothes store and at the Swiss Church in Endell Street.

All this makes for hungry work for the relentlessly positive Mr Fussell – now 60 years old.

“I know it is really kicking everyone,” he told me. “But the food prices are so expensive now it is really affecting what people in my position are eating.”

He used to rely on food given out by community kitchens helping those sleeping rough.

“I used to get a wonderful breakfast. And in the evening, you could get two home-made soups – one meat, one veg,” he said. “You could have as much as you wanted until it ran out. And you got a baguette, and then you had a big meal after. And then you could take away two sandwiches for the next day.

“Now, more often than not it will be a small jacket potato and that’s it.”

During Covid “it was all Pot Noodles and toast”, he said, adding: “I might sound naive, but I thought these Pot Noodles they were giving us would probably be quite good for you.

“But when I could only get them I started adding on the calories. I was carrying three stone extra weight around.”

Many of the shelter projects that were open providing healthy food to the homeless before the pandemic never reopened.

“Now I’m spending more money at Holland & Barrett just to try and get the best food I can,” said David. “Another big struggle I have now is queuing, so many places have gone and not reopened, I calculated I can queue for 20 hours a week just to guarantee myself a meal.”

The atmosphere in Tottenham Court Road and surrounding streets has also changed quite a lot, he said.

“My old crowd of contacts are not there any more really. And a lot of the shops and cafés who might let you into the toilet are closed as well. That poor old [Pollock’s] Toy Museum has gone,” he said.

“There was an old music store that had been going for years; I went there to get myself a new tambourine – but it had gone.”

He added: “It is a very difficult thing to keep yourself hopeful. But then I just remind myself that a lot of people have been through worse. I try to keep losing myself in arts and music, that always has kept me going.

“I know how to sell a song and I’m writing an album – The Wasteland Balladeer. It’s going to tell my story in a way that, whatever your opinions are, you will enjoy the music. It will be about, from my point of view, the things that are going wrong. One track is called Don’t Lose Your Humanity. Because a lot of people have.”

• Mr Fussell’s film Mystic Demon Killer is available for download at Vimeo and you can find him on YouTube at FussellFilms23