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Reverend Moffatt denies council pressure was behind his decision.
"We felt safe there. The church's action has made us all vulnerable." The words of one rough sleeper who was moved on from St Luke's Church in Chelsea last month.
With the majority of those moved on from church grounds now wandering the streets at night, was the right decision taken?
For 11 homeless people, St Luke's Church in Chelsea had been a warm and welcoming place for them to bed down at night. The church porch offered shelter and the vicar was sympathetic to their plight. They had an open relationship with him and mutual respect for each other.
"We wouldn't be around when church services were taking place," says Terry, who slept at St Luke's for 18 months. "We'd arrive late in the evening and leave by six in the morning." The area has been a haven for the homeless for many years. The Methodist Church on the King's Road has an open-door policy for the homeless and both churches are part of the West London Churches Homeless Concern.
But earlier this year things began to change. A number of incidents occurred which led Associate Vicar Reverend Joe Moffatt, together with the churchwardens and the church council, to revisit his treatment of those bedding down on his porch.
"There was aggressive behaviour from some individuals and complaints from residents and other users of church grounds," he said. While he says the majority of rough sleepers using the church porch were "lovely, respectful people" the numbers of those bedding down, as well as a number of violent incidents, made him question the safety of both his staff and those sleeping there.
"It was with great reluctance that we withdrew our permission for them to use it as a place of refuge, but we can't resource and manage it in a safe way," he told The Pavement. Rough sleepers using St Luke's say that there was a spate of violent incidents in which a man from outside of their group threatened and assaulted a number of them. They called the Police on three occasions but only on the third occasion was the situation dealt with. On top of this, a number of newcomers had also not been abiding by the rules of the church; but far from witnessing rising numbers making the church their bedroom for the night, they say the number of people sleeping there was, in fact, declining.
Reverend Moffatt admits that he had come under some pressure from the Council to move the rough sleepers on from the church, but he says that this was not the reason behind his decision.
He arranged for outreach workers from Broadway to hold a surgery at the church and help those he was moving on to find alternative accommodation. However, almost two months on, of the 11 people bedding down at St Luke's, including three women, only three have found temporary accommodation. Some do not feel that they have been given adequate support and are now spending their nights on buses, walking the streets or sleeping in shop doorways. "The church has made us all vulnerable," says Paul.
Joe Batty, outreach co-ordinator at Broadway, denies that his organisation has not offered enough support to help those who have been moved on find housing. "We were available and we continue to be available. It's a difficult situation which has not been resolved," he said, and he urges those who have not been helped so far to contact Broadway. He says that Broadway is not acting on behalf of the council and that the decision taken by Reverend Moffatt was an independent one.
But for those left vulnerable by church action, some for the second time in recent years, is it time for St Luke's to revisit its policy towards its homeless parishioners? Some of those who took part in this interview are disappointed that a church with which they had a good relationship made this decision so rashly, without consultation.
"A few people needed to be given a warning," admits one. "But the way we were hounded out went against our previous relationship with the church." They believe the church is making excuses when it claims that the area is no longer safe.
Reverend Moffatt says: "We had a self-policing system in place and when it was working we were happy. But when there's a threat of abuse, the only other option is a full ban."
The names of some of the rough sleepers in this article have been changed at those persons' request.
If you have a story you want investigated, but are concerned that your identity would be published, don't be deterred from contacting us. Our professional journalists need to investigate stories completely, but that does not mean your name needs to appear in print.
October – November 2024 : Change
CONTENTS
BACK ISSUES
- Issue 152 : October – November 2024 : Change
- Issue 151 : August – September 2024 : Being Heard
- Issue 150 : June – July 2024 : Reflections
- Issue 149 : April – May 2024 : Compassion
- Issue 148 : February – March 2024 : The little things
- Issue 147 : December 2023 – January 2024 : Next steps
- Issue 146 : October 2023 – November 2023 : Kind acts
- Issue 145 : August 2023 – September 2023 : Mental health
- Issue 144 : June 2023 – July 2023 : Community
- Issue 143 : April 2023 - May 2023 : Hope springs
- Issue 142 : February 2023 - March 2023 : New Beginnings
- Issue 141 : December 2022 - January 2023 : Winter Homeless
- Issue 140 : October - November 2022 : Resolve
- Issue 139 : August - September 2022 : Creativity
- Issue 138 : June - July 2022 : Practical advice
- Issue 137 : April - May 2022 : Connection
- Issue 136 : February - March 2022 : RESPECT
- Issue 135 : Dec 2021 - Jan 2022 : OPPORTUNITY
- Issue 134 : September-October 2021 : Losses and gains
- Issue 133 : July-August 2021 : Know Your Rights
- Issue 132 : May-June 2021 : Access to Healthcare
- Issue 131 : Mar-Apr 2021 : SOLUTIONS
- Issue 130 : Jan-Feb 2021 : CHANGE
- Issue 129 : Nov-Dec 2020 : UNBELIEVABLE
- Issue 128 : Sep-Oct 2020 : COPING
- Issue 127 : Jul-Aug 2020 : HOPE
- Issue 126 : Health & Wellbeing in a Crisis
- Issue 125 : Mar-Apr 2020 : MOVING ON
- Issue 124 : Jan-Feb 2020 : STREET FOOD
- Issue 123 : Nov-Dec 2019 : HOSTELS
- Issue 122 : Sep 2019 : DEATH ON THE STREETS
- Issue 121 : July-Aug 2019 : INVISIBLE YOUTH
- Issue 120 : May-June 2019 : RECOVERY
- Issue 119 : Mar-Apr 2019 : WELLBEING
- Issue 118 : Jan-Feb 2019 : WORKING HOMELESS
- Issue 117 : Nov-Dec 2018 : HER STORY
- Issue 116 : Sept-Oct 2018 : TOILET TALK
- Issue 115 : July-Aug 2018 : HIDDEN HOMELESS
- Issue 114 : May-Jun 2018 : REBUILD YOUR LIFE
- Issue 113 : Mar–Apr 2018 : REMEMBRANCE
- Issue 112 : Jan-Feb 2018
- Issue 111 : Nov-Dec 2017
- Issue 110 : Sept-Oct 2017
- Issue 109 : July-Aug 2017
- Issue 108 : Apr-May 2017
- Issue 107 : Feb-Mar 2017
- Issue 106 : Dec 2016 - Jan 2017
- Issue 105 : Oct-Nov 2016
- Issue 104 : Aug-Sept 2016
- Issue 103 : May-June 2016
- Issue 102 : Mar-Apr 2016
- Issue 101 : Jan-Feb 2016
- Issue 100 : Nov-Dec 2015
- Issue 99 : Sept-Oct 2015
- Issue 98 : July-Aug 2015
- Issue 97 : May-Jun 2015
- Issue 96 : April 2015 [Mini Issue]
- Issue 95 : March 2015
- Issue 94 : February 2015
- Issue 93 : December 2014
- Issue 92 : November 2014
- Issue 91 : October 2014
- Issue 90 : September 2014
- Issue 89 : July 2014
- Issue 88 : June 2014
- Issue 87 : May 2014
- Issue 86 : April 2014
- Issue 85 : March 2014
- Issue 84 : February 2014
- Issue 83 : December 2013
- Issue 82 : November 2013
- Issue 81 : October 2013
- Issue 80 : September 2013
- Issue 79 : June 2013
- Issue 78 : 78
- Issue 77 : 77
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- Issue 50 : 50
- Issue 49 : 49
- Issue 48 : 48
- Issue 47 : 47
- Issue 46 : 46
- Issue 45 : 45
- Issue 44 : 44
- Issue 43 : 43
- Issue 42 : 42
- Issue 5 : 05
- Issue 4 : 04
- Issue 2 : 02
- Issue 1 : 01
- Issue 41 : 41
- Issue 40 : 40
- Issue 39 : 39
- Issue 38 : 38
- Issue 37 : 37
- Issue 36 : 36
- Issue 35 : 35
- Issue 34 : 34
- Issue 33 : 33
- Issue 10 : 10
- Issue 9 : 09
- Issue 6 : 06
- Issue 3 : 03
- Issue 32 : 32
- Issue 31 : 31
- Issue 30 : 30
- Issue 29 : 29
- Issue 11 : 11
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- Issue 16 : 16
- Issue 17 : 17
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- Issue 20 : 20
- Issue 21 : 21
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- Issue 23 : 23
- Issue 24 : 24
- Issue 25 : 25
- Issue 8 : 08
- Issue 7 : 07
- Issue 26 : 26
- Issue 27 : 27
- Issue 28 : 28
- Issue 1 : 01