Finding a way

A Way Home Scotland, a coalition of individuals, organisations and authorities working to end youth homelessness in Scotland, launched its second Youth Homelessness Prevention Pathway. The new pathway sets out to outline ways to prevent homelessness for all young people, it follows the success of the first pathway in 2019, aimed at care leavers faced with homelessness. Scottish Housing News reports the pathway contains 16 recommendations and three calls for action, including an emphasis on creating local strategies tailored to the population. The Scottish Government published statistics for the year 2019-2020 showing 8,319 people between the age of 16 and 25 presented as homeless to their local authority.

Be Kind

Kindness Homeless Street Team, a community group based in Glasgow, served more than 200 people at their outdoor soup kitchen on one freezing, snowy night in late February. The street kitchen is set up in George Square on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, and regularly serves a group between 130 and 150 people. Laura McSorley set the Kindness Homeless Street Team up in 2019. Speaking to Glasgow Live she said the soup kitchen was seeing “loads and loads of new faces” during the pandemic.

• Visit the team's Facebook page at facebook.com/KindnessHST

Unbelievable "success"

Some quite literally unbelievable news: the Scottish Government has revealed there are only 11 people sleeping rough in the whole country. According to the Daily Record, the government says the lowly number is down to the success of schemes designed to house people during the pandemic. The figures were released in response to a Freedom of Information request. Colin McInnes, chairman of Homeless Project Scotland, was having none of it. “Last Friday night, we fed 240 people at our soup kitchen in Glasgow. What we see on the streets suggests there are more than 11 rough sleepers in Glasgow, never mind Scotland.”

Living in the past

In the six months between the start of April and the end of September last year, police in England and Wales used the ancient, draconian Vagrancy Act to make 361 charges leading to court hearings, reports HuffPost UK. The Vagrancy Act was introduced in 1824, and as our older readers may remember, it seemed harsh then. Sections 3 and 4 of the act prohibit “begging” and “lodging in… the open air, or under a tent”. The UK government vowed a review of the law back in 2018, but that’s ancient history. No comment on the progress of the review, nor any changes (or abolishment), have been made. Crisis called the charges “inhumane”. 

Vaccine programme

Dr Anil Mehta is on a mission to vaccinate homeless people in east London against Covid-19. Homeless people were not included in the highest priority category, as the UK stepped up inoculating people at the start of the year. Mehta told the Associated Press he was moved to act, forming a small team of doctors and nurses to offer free jabs at homeless day centres and night shelters. In one week in late February, Mehta and his team provided vaccine jabs to more than 200 homeless people and social care workers. 

Address issues

HSBC is offering a bank account to people without a permanent home address with its No Fixed Address service. It operates in over 100 branches around the UK, and people can access this scheme by using the address of the charity supporting them and being accompanied by a caseworker. Under this system they will not need proof of address or photo ID. Speaking to The i, Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter, said that HSBC’s scheme will mean that “more people can take a key step towards financial independence” crucial to helping rebuild people’s lives.

• Find out more at www.hsbc.co.uk/help/money-worries/nofixed-address/

Well played

Former footballer Lou Macari has been hard at work since the Covid-19 pandemic turned everything on its head last year. In a segment on BBC Radio 5 Live, Macari revealed he had set up ‘glamping pods’ for homeless people in Stoke-on-Trent. Macari has run a homeless shelter in the region for the past four years, but had to make significant alterations to the shelter when the pandemic hit in March 2020. The former Manchester United star invested in ‘glamping’ pods for the 46 residents of the Macari Centre, and set up the wooden pods – designed for luxury camping – in a warehouse. Macari says residents are “showing a great deal of pride in their pod.”

NHS hero

Tom Pemberton was on the streets from the age of 17. With the help of The Prince’s Trust he was able to join the Get Into Hospital Services programme, allowing him to secure a job working for the NHS as a laundry assistant. He’s now 23, helping to mentor other young people enrolled in the programme, and recently spoke at the Movement to Work Youth Summit at the Houses of Parliament. His remarkable achievements were acknowledged as he was given the Prince's Trust Young Achiever of the Year award. Speaking to LancsLive, he said “it is amazing what you can achieve with the right support, if I can do it, anyone can.”

• www.princes-trust.org.uk
  

Reality bites

A startling report by the National Audit Office (NAO), released at the start of the year, reveals just how ill-prepared government officials were for the task of housing the UK’s homeless during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. The government has set itself the ambitious aim of ending homelessness by 2024, but woefully underestimated just how many people needed housing as it launched its Everyone In scheme last year. The NAO says 33,139 people took part in the scheme between its roll-out in late March and November 2020, but officials working on the project were reliant on a survey stating only 4,266 people slept rough.

Census 2021

STOP PRESS: The 2021 census will take place in England and Wales on 21 March, the Office for National Statistics confirms. The census is for everyone in England and Wales, including homeless people and people sleeping rough. This year the census will be conducted primarily online. • Find our more at https://census.gov.uk

Pandemic legacy

Dismal reading in the Observer, with news that more than 70,000 households have been made homeless in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic. Figures compiled in late January also reveal a staggering 207,543 households approached their local council for assistance avoiding homelessness or helping with the threat of homelessness between April and November 2020. Of these households, 70,309 were “owed the relief duty”, meaning they were already homeless when they approached their council. David Renard, housing spokesperson for the Local Government Association, warned: “Councils will need further support in the difficult weeks and months ahead to move people into safe and secure housing”.

Is that all? 

Not to worry, all of your troubles can be remedied! All you’ll need is the modest sum of £5,000, an amount easily saved, says the Conservative Mayoral candidate for London, Shaun Bailey. Yes, Bailey proposes homeless people in the capital should simply save up £5,000 for a deposit on a share of an affordable home. When asked by Inside Housing if he was suggesting families in temporary and emergency accommodation could afford the deposit, Bailey clarified, “Not all of them, but some people could. A full proportion of people could.”

• London Mayoral Elections & Scottish Parliament Elections on 6 May
  
  
  

Meals on wheels

The Museum of Homelessness set up a mobile homeless task force in central London for the winter, providing weekly support for people sleeping rough – by way of hot drinks, snacks and warm kit. The goods are handed out by a team of volunteers every Monday from 8.45pm in the West End until the trolley storing everything is empty.

Parkhead proposal

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde submitted plans for a new health and social centre in Parkhead to the council in January. Glasgow Live reports the centre will provide a range of primary and social care services to the local area’s homeless population, providing support for mental health, addiction, criminal justice and sexual health. The application for the centre states “critical to this concept is the creation of an open, welcoming and caring facility that is easy to navigate and pleasant, calm and uplifting to inhabit.”