Charity warns of Covid impact on child homelessness
Over half of teachers in the East have worked with homeless children in the last three years.
Last updated 18th Nov 2020
The findings from Shelter and YouGov show 54% of state school teachers in the East have first-hand knowledge of the issue of homelessness in young people.
In the East, over 7,000 children are classed as being homeless.
In Norwich there are 9 children living in various forms of temporary accommodation, that goes up to 80 in Great Yarmouth and 44 in North Norfolk.
In Suffolk - there are 54 homeless children in Ipswich, 47 in East Suffolk and 6 in Mid Suffolk.
The numbers go up in Essex with 273 children in Colchester and 189 in Tendring.
Shelter is warning the situation could worsen too due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis on housing inequalities.
According to the study, almost all teachers found tiredness was one of the main issues for homeless children and those living in bad housing, meanwhile 93% attended school hungry and unwashed.
There were also a lot of cases of children missing school, which the charity says is likely due to being located too far from their former home and unable to make the journey.
As part of the study, Shelter spoke to eight teachers anonymously to find out the impact it was having on the students.
One teacher, whose pupil was moved to emergency accommodation in a different area, said: "She leaves home at 6am every morning to get to school because the local authority have no homes so she has been temporarily rehoused. The family of four are living in one room at a B&B. Her attendance has dropped severely, she has become ill and she is always tired."
Meanwhile another spoke about the impact it had on their pupil's mental health: "He was in temporary accommodation on his own and just couldn't handle anything. His situation was such a mental strain on him that he just couldn't handle being at college anymore, so he dropped out in the end.
"So, he had such a horrible time of things and, despite all support that we possibly could provide, it's just not enough from the student's perspective."
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: "Without a safe and secure home, a child’s life chances can bedeeply disrupted.This isnot only a scandal affectingthe Eastof England, it’s a problem everywhere. Without action the extra harm being done to homeless children as a result of the pandemic may never be undone.The region’s homeless children must not be the invisible victims of this crisis.
"We still don’t know what the long-term impact of the pandemic will be on this generation of children. But for now, Shelter is hereto supportand give hope to thefamilies who need us the most. With the public’s support we will do all we can to make sureevery child has a safe and secure home– this winter and beyond."
You can donate to Shelter's urgent winter appeal via its website.