St Helens charity warning 'people are going to die' if we don't do more to tackle homelessness
This comes as shocking new figures show that in the last year rough sleeping was up 26 per cent in England
People experiencing homelessness is at an all-time high – including rough sleeping – and new findings released today reveal just how close to home the issues of homelessness are for the UK.
Leading homelessness charity, St Mungo’s, has found that this year a fifth of us have either been in temporary accommodation, or knows someone who has (21%) and that 12% of people have slept rough on the streets in 2023 or knows someone who has.
Furthermore, almost a fifth (19%) have also experienced hidden homelessness in 2023 or know someone who has – these are people who are experiencing homelessness or housing difficulties, regardless of legal definitions or entitlement, but who are not supported by their local authorities or counted in official statistics. This may be, for example, when people are sofa surfing with family, friends or another connection, or sleeping in their vehicles.
The number of people sleeping rough is up 26% this year and 74% since 20102 and 17% of us know someone facing a form of homelessness this Christmas.
Danny McGarvey is a Homelessness Prevention Officer at the Hope House in St Helens. He is warning of the tragic consequences if nothing is done: "People are going to die, that's the reality people are going to die.
"We're going to end up in a society of ever-rising increases in homelessness, its as important to focus on the issues surrounding homelessness and look at how that's being dealt with.
"Due to one reason or another we've lost about fourteen people this year to various things related to homelessness.
"When we meet the families and they come to speak to us and thank us for trying to help ultimately we feel like we've failed when that happens. We're doing everything we can."
Danny added: "Its just getting worse and worse and we're getting stretched and stretched more and more each day.
"It's heartbreaking, it really is, because we're about to close for the day and we've got to send people out knowing that there is nowhere for them to go."