December 28, 2017

Tackling homelessness in the UK

located:	United Kingdom
editor:	Shira Jeczmien

For me, a government that has failed to provide the most basic of human rights to its citizens – shelter – is a failed government. Just a few days ago the Liberal Democratic party in the UK has released figures from over 200 councils across the country, showing that in 2017 45,000 young people between the ages of 18 and 24 have required help with homelessness, (with over 100 councils refusing to publicise information the real figure is predicted to be over 70,000.)

There seems to be a kind of cycle to the general awareness around homelessness; it correlates with the seasons. As though the soaring temperatures are a major factor in the aid applicable to those who find themselves struggling to keep a roof over their head. This very approach is in desperate need of shifting. Come winter or summer, no one should experience the shame and trauma of losing their home; “because one person sleeping rough is always one too many” to quote London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Since 2010 both the figures of homelessness and rough sleepers have doubled. In London alone, on every given night, 2,659 individuals tuck into their makeshift bed in an attempt to create a home on the streets of the city – closing their eyes on the hard concrete pavement, alone and with no one to help them.

Under Boris Johnson, London’s former Mayor, emergency shelters were set up when sub zero temperatures remain for three consecutive days – allowing the city’s rough sleepers a place of refuge from the biting cold. Khan however, has just announced that he will shift the scheme to provide shelter on every given night where temperatures surge below zero.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter – a charity working to tackle homelessness in the UK – expressed the destruction of the prospect of losing a home. She said, “At the very point when young people should be full of hope and looking forward to starting out in life, many are instead threatened with homelessness.”

There are numerous innovative homeless charities springing up in lack of governmental support. As Khan continues to reform schemes such as No Second Night Out that provide advice to first time rough sleepers, it’s crucial initiatives continue to grow and flourish. Crack + Cider is a charity that supplies essentials to rough sleepers through online donation for example. But in order to tackle homelessness in our societies we need to reestablish empathy; because every single person who finds themselves without a home is a person in need of help, no matter the temperature, season or reason.

Photo: The Connection at St Martin’s