13 November 2007:
London Council's decision to prevent the distribution of food at certain sites is a move that Thames Reach supports, according to Chief Executive Jeremy Swain.
London Councils’ decision to prevent the distribution of food at certain designated sites is a decision that Thames Reach supports. Our reasons for this are as follows:
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We believe that there are far too many food handouts coming into central London. Housing Justice (who, unlike Thames Reach, oppose the proposal) estimate that there are currently 32 different handouts coming into central London.
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Our experience over many years is that soup runs and other handouts do little to assist people to move off of the street. In fact we believe that there is evidence that they act as a magnet bringing people back onto the street and contribute to them staying attached to a street life-style.
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We have also been urging the organisations and bodies who are responsible for distributing food on the streets to develop a co-ordinated approach to delivering their services and we are disappointed that there is little evidence of this being achieved.
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Local communities have reasonably reached the end of their tether as a result of street handouts causing noise, nuisance and mess. We have sympathy for them and feel that they have been asked to put up with a great deal of disturbance over a long period of time.
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We are also aware that most people using street handouts are not sleeping rough but are living in hostels (which offer food) and in other accommodation.
The bodies distributing street handouts are understandably concerned at the plight of people who have no access to welfare benefits who are on the street and the case could be made that, without food being provided by charities, churches and concerned members of the public, these people could starve or at the very least place their health in jeopardy. Eastern European nationals (A8s) who have come to this country seeking work and who cannot claim welfare benefits come to mind. As an organisation working with almost 4,000 vulnerable people every year, we are acutely aware of the extreme vulnerability of some people on the street.
However, providing a mobile food distribution service is not the way in which people should be helped. Thames Reach runs a Street Rescue Service which goes out onto the street every night of the year. We meet isolated rough sleepers and try to get them inside and out of the cold. Exceptionally, if there is no other option, we will buy an individual a meal and a hot drink. This is very different to making the distribution of food the main purpose of our service. The random, untargeted nature of food handouts, as noted above, is likely to create more problems than they solve.
We also offer day services to homeless people, including eastern European nationals, from a base in Hackney. We provide them with a hot breakfast within a building. Having encouraged them to come inside, we can then help them with other issues such as getting onto the Worker Registration Scheme, advice on employment and training, how to make contact with their national organisations, assistance with getting ID sorted out and, where they have additional problems, help in linking with specialist services; for example, alcohol services.
To summarise:
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We believe that in 2007 there is no justification for providing rudimentary handout services on the street
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Services should be provided indoors and should be geared towards helping people move away from the streets
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Some people unable to claim benefits such as European nationals who have come to the UK to work may be in need of food, warmth, clothing and above all help and advice to direct them towards employment. All this can best be provided within a centre or building – not in the open air, on the street.
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Local communities have, reasonably, had enough of street handouts, usually coming in from many miles away, impacting negatively on local areas.
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We would urge faith groups and others concerned about the plight of the homeless to distribute food from inside a building in their own localities, and to signpost people to other services as well as simply distributing food.
Jeremy Swain, Chief Executive, Thames Reach
