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Westminster action week aims to find new solutions

July 26 2016
Two hundred volunteers are being rounded up to take part in a community project this July aimed at helping rough sleepers in Westminster

Two hundred volunteers are being rounded up to take part in a community project this July aimed at helping rough sleepers in Westminster.

A group of charities are organising Westminster Homeless Action Together, a community action week which will take place between 10 and 17 July, along with a number of other European cities. Members of the public will be asked to listen to homeless people about the reasons for their homelessness and what could make a difference to help them come off the streets.

Organisers claim it is a chance for the community to be part of helping find creative solutions that might not occur to homeless charities and the council.

Volunteers, who either live or work in the area, will be asked to go out on the streets and talk to people who are sleeping rough to find out more about their stories and bring a fresh perspective to strategies to tackle homelessness. They’ll be provided with training, then they’ll be asked to help gather stories, together with suggestions as to what can be done to deliver help and make the changes that are needed. They’ll need to commit to four hours of training in the week of the 4th July, plus at least one shift between 9pm and 2am the following week.

The initiative is led by St Mungo’s, The Connection at St Martin’s and The Passage, in partnership with Westminster City Council, the West London Mission and the Abbey Community Centre.

Cllr Nickie Aiken, Cabinet Member for Public Protection, Westminster City Council, said: “Our outreach teams are out 365 days a year supporting rough sleepers away from the street and into accommodation.

“As a result nearly 70 per cent of newly identified rough sleepers do not spend a second night out on the streets. However as the needs and profiles of people sleeping rough change, we know we have to keep rethinking our strategies, to make sure we’re doing all we can. This community action week will give us 200 fresh pairs of eyes to help us develop new solutions.”

Westminster Council is home to some of London’s most expensive neighbourhoods, yet it also has more people sleeping rough than any borough in the country. A total of 2,570 people slept rough there during 2014-15.

Petra Salva, Director of Outreach and Street Homelessness at St Mungo’s, said: “We know people are compassionate, concerned and want to help when they see someone sleeping rough. With numbers rising, there’s no more urgent time than now to galvanise that energy and involve the Westminster community to help those people, sometimes literally on their doorstep.”

This is one of a number of programmes backed by St Mungo’s which focuses exclusively on rough sleepers, and which have been criticised in the past for failing to serve the main body of the homeless community that’s living in shelters, squats or B&Bs, in overcrowded accommodation or ‘concealed' housing, such as the floors or sofas of friends and family.

It is hoped that the week of action will help to raise the profile of homelessness, make good use of the willingness of people who want to help but are unsure what to do, and help to identify the gaps in existing services.

To find out more: www.westminsterhomelesstogether.org

Spread the word on Twitter using the hashtags #Endhomelessness and #WHATJuly16

< Bournemouth sends rough sleepers to leave town Three in four Universal Credit tenants in arrears >
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