Rough sleeping has been a growing problem in London in recent years. The Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has promised to do all he can to reduce the numbers of people sleeping on London’s streets. Here are six ways we are helping the capital’s rough sleepers (and ways that you can help too):
1. More funding from government to help
We’ve secured a new £50m fund to invest in accommodation for people moving on from hostels and refuges, and an extra £4.2m – on top of the £9m we already spend every year – to support services including those for the most entrenched rough sleepers.
2. A new ‘No Nights Sleeping Rough’ taskforce
The Mayor has set up a London-wide taskforce to oversee our work on rough sleeping and funding priorities. It brings together key partners to tackle rough sleeping in London – including boroughs, voluntary organisations and central government.
3. Supporting London’s homeless charities
We work with London’s homeless charities to ensure our efforts go where they are most needed. We fund London Street Rescue to help find rough sleepers, No Second Night Out to offer new rough sleepers a way off the streets, and the Clearing House to provide supported housing for people with a history of rough sleeping.
4. Providing shelters for rough sleepers in freezing weather
When the weather forecast shows the temperature falling below zero for three days or more, we open Severe Weather Emergency Provision centres to give an emergency shelter for those sleeping rough.
5. Enabling all Londoners to help out too
We support StreetLink, through which members of the public can report rough sleepers they see to help them get into services quickly. StreetLink make it easy for you to make these reports using their app. Just search for ‘StreetLink’ in the Apple App store or Google Play store.
6. Working with volunteers – can you help?
Many of the organisations that we work with rely on volunteers to help them provide these vital services. If you would like to support them, here’s how:
- Get involved with StreetLink
- Join the Mayor’s outreach team, London Street Rescue
- Volunteer with Team London. Organisations across London are looking for people with different skills to help with everything from medical appointments and soup kitchens, to hairdressing and street opera.
We can’t solve the problem overnight. The reality is it’s going to take time to tackle rough sleeping - the sharpest end of the housing crisis. Find out more about how we’re working to help London’s rough sleepers.