Real personal tragedies behind Britain’s homelessness statistics
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Version 0 of 1. Letters: Cllr Paul Gadsby on what Lambeth is doing to help those in need, and Dr Chris Allen on the inter-agency group now working in Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead Shelter’s latest report paints a shocking picture of the homelessness crisis in England, but it is a sadly familiar one to councils on the frontline of this terrible situation (No home for 285,000 on Christmas Day in England, figures show, 17 December). Behind the frightening statistics are real personal tragedies. When I was out with Lambeth’s rough sleeping team this week, I saw people sheltering in collapsing tents, shivering in the rain and in horrible personal distress. Almost everyone sleeping rough has been the victim of some form of physical, mental or sexual abuse. Councils like Lambeth do all we can to help those in need: this week we have launched a new homelessness and rough sleeping strategy that commits £4m, despite government cuts to our budget, to rough sleeping services including 500 beds and rooms for rough sleepers. We help hundreds off the street each year, have built the first new council homes in a generation in the borough, and house thousands who need temporary accommodation. But every council in England is struggling to cope with rising numbers needing help. The government needs to make addressing this housing crisis, in partnership with local councils – whatever their political colour – a key priority in 2020. We need support from government to build more homes, a revolution in standards, rights and rent levels in the private rented sector, and substantial funding for homeless services. Without this 2020 will see even more forced into the nightmare of homelessness.Cllr Paul GadsbyCabinet member for housing, London borough of Lambeth • Your G2 series The Empty Doorway, telling the stories of some of those who have died on Britain’s streets, has been timely given the rise in the number of homeless people, and Sajid Javid’s inaccurate claim in the election that homelessness was decreasing. I work in an area that became infamous when the former leader of the council suggested that homeless people should be removed prior to the royal wedding and that some people made a “voluntary choice” to be homeless. The Empty Doorway articles have demonstrated that it is much more complex than that, and last week’s (‘A stranger gave me a bed, a key and a job’, G2, 17 December) provided a ray of optimism in its account of nine people finding their way off the streets. We have an inter-agency group now working in Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead to try to help the homeless by attempting to link work in our voluntary drop-ins and hostels with outreach services including housing, a GP, the council, drug and dependency services, and mental health provision. Far from being a “voluntary choice”, we have found complex interrelated reasons for people becoming homeless, such as early neglect and abuse, unidentified autism, head injury, learning difficulties, mental health problems, and life events such as losing jobs or being thrown out by parents. Alcohol and drug use often become ways of coping with the difficult circumstances people find themselves in, and then dependency becomes a further problem. We have found that by working together with the homeless it has been possible to help some off the street, and an important part of this has been to see beyond the stranger on the street, to understand why they have found themselves in that situation and to work together with a belief that they are people with something to offer society. As James Creed said in the article: “Homeless people are just people and they deserve our compassion.”Dr Chris AllenConsultant clinical psychologist, Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters • Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition |