15 January 2007
A group of the capital’s homeless visited Whitehall today to meet up with the minister responsible for tackling social exclusion in the UK.
Hilary Armstrong MP, Minister for Social Exclusion within the Cabinet Office, greeted nine homeless men and women in her office, as part of a visit arranged by outreach workers from Thames Reach, the London homelessness charity.
The attendees were either currently sleeping rough or in hostels, supported housing projects and squats and all have had between one and ten years experience of bedding down on the streets of the capital.
The visit was arranged to enable homeless people to speak directly to those with influence and power about the issues they face.
The wide-ranging discussion covered a series of topics looking at how homelessness could be prevented and how services for rough sleepers could be improved. Issues included:
The need for local authorities to provide help for people facing eviction through a helpline
The advantage of people who had shared the experience of sleeping rough together to be housed close to each other to prevent isolation.
A request that the homelessness sector and government do more to reduce the barriers that hinder people’s journey off the streets and into accommodation, described by one participant as ‘hurdle, hurdle, brick wall’.
A wish for hostels to be small-scale and personal, catering for individuals’ specific needs.
A recommendation that hospitals provide specialist help at point of discharge to prevent homeless people being returned to the street.
Kellie Manchip, aged 32, spent six years on the street before finally settling down in a Thames Reach hostel in West London one month ago. She spoke about the dangers of sleeping rough, especially when forced to move away from crowded shopping areas and onto the backstreets. “We not only felt out of sight, out of mind, but this also had real safety issues for us – especially the women. I got my leg broken when a stranger kicked me.”
She added: "I felt like I was paid attention to at today’s meeting and I’d love the chance to come back to the Cabinet Office in the future to see if the government has not only listened, but acted upon the issues we spoke about.”
Hilary Armstrong, said: "It’s essential that Ministers get to see how policies really affect people in their daily lives. Aside from being grateful to hear about the experiences of rough sleepers and former rough sleepers and get a better sense of the impact we’re having, a clear message I took away was the importance of personalised public services in enabling people to turn their lives around.”
