The Department for Communities and Local Government is launching a new strategy this autumn to reduce rough sleeping to as close to zero as possible. Thames Reach has contributed a formal response to the exercise. With the London Olympics now less than four years away, Thames Reach is determined to use the date to galvanise support behind the bid to end rough sleeping by 2012.
Jeremy Swain, Chief Executive, Thames Reach said:
“Over half the rough sleepers in the country are to be found in London and Boris Johnson, the new Mayor, is formally supporting a campaign to end rough sleeping in the capital.
Already there are mutterings about how ‘they’ (the authorities) will use the Olympics as an excuse to ‘clear the streets’ of rough sleepers. Clearing the streets of rough sleepers by 2012 is, of course, exactly what we should be striving to achieve.
Enough has been written about the indignities of sleeping on cardboard in a doorway for nobody to be in any doubt that sleeping rough is dangerous, unhealthy and demeaning. The manner in which people are helped off the street is absolutely crucial; focused, assertive and practical outreach with rough sleepers has worked in helping over 20,000 men and women leave the streets of London over the last ten years, connecting individuals with a range of decent accommodation and specialist services. This will continue to be the most effective, sustainable way of helping people make the transition.
40% of people met by outreach workers are new to the streets, so the alternatives to taking the drastic step of curling up on the pavement for the night must be made more compelling. Too many people are being squeezed through an over-burdened hostel system that meets the needs of many, but which too randomly also offers a roof to some people with relatively low support needs.
If the 40% new arrivals figure could be reduced by half then we are well on the way to ending rough sleeping in this country. Clearing the streets by reducing the flow must a central theme of the new strategy.”
