#UK - Tea, toast and out by 8am: inside #Manchester's emergency #homeless provision

Extra spaces are made available when the mercury drops below freezing

by Greta Simpson, 17 Jan 2026

Excerpt: "When the weather in the city centre is forecast to drop below zero - as it has repeatedly in recent days - severe weather emergency protocol is called in, meaning that the council increase their outreach to the homeless, offering a warm place to everyone who may be #SleepingRough.

"Users have to be referred there through the council's #RoughSleepers service, either through council officers, other voluntary providers in the Manchester Homeless Partnership or even members of the public.

"The Rough Sleepers team then co-ordinate who is going where, either to council-operated accommodation or sites run by other partners.

"Users have to get there under their own steam, whether it's through their own means or a bus pass or taxi funded by other charities and partners.

"They are free to lie down and sleep, but no drink or drugs are allowed ('it would be unmanageable,' one staff member says) and they must be gone by 8am.

"However, in some instances users stay for several nights in a row, though they have to vacate the space during the day. Some users move into temporary accommodation in the rest of the hotel if a space becomes free."

Read more:
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/tea-toast-out-8am-inside-33203019

@newsbot

#EmergencySheltersUK #Unhoused #Homeless #Houseless #ExtremeCold #ArcticBlast

People granted refugee status have just 7 days to vacate their Home Office accommodation and find somewhere to live. Needless to say, many refugees end up on the streets through no fault of their own.

I volunteer for the Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum (NNRF) and every year we make up Rough Sleeper's Kits to help.

Please consider donating to this appeal and boosting.

#NNRF #Nottingham #Refugees #RoughSleepers

Rough Sleeper's Kits Appeal - 2024 - JustGiving
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/rough-sleepers-kits

Rough sleeping in London is up by a third compared with last year, according to the latest data released by the Greater London Authority.

New statistics covering January to March of this year show that 4,118 people spent at least one night sleeping rough in the capital, a 33 percent rise from the 3,107 people recorded in the same period of 2023.

Those sleeping rough for the first time accounted for 49 percent of the total recorded, comprising 2,038 people — 37 percent higher than the same period last year.

However, 74 percent of new rough sleepers spent just one night on the streets.

In Westminster the total number of people recorded by outreach workers was 850 — 168 more than during the same period in 2023.

Camden saw a significant increase with a total of 341 people contacted by outreach workers — 135 more than the previous year.

Nick Redmore, director of homeless services at the Salvation Army charity, said: “The numbers of people sleeping rough is increasing year on year and won’t decline without urgent Government intervention.

“People often end up sleeping rough because of abuse, trauma, addiction, or poor mental health. To end rough sleeping, it’s crucial to invest in services that help people tackle the root causes that forced them onto the streets in the first place. However, funding for these support services has been repeatedly cut and cannot meet the rising demand.

“The Salvation Army helps people who are sleeping rough every day. We do this in various ways including providing emergency temporary accommodation to keep people safe and warm and opening our doors for hot meals, drop-in support, and signposting to appropriate services.

“Unless immediate Government action is taken, we fear the number of people sleeping rough on the streets will continue to increase.”

The latest data, published by London’s Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN), shows that only 44 percent of the capital’s rough sleepers are UK nationals.

Citizens of Romania make up the second-largest cohort (nine percent), followed by Eritrea (six percent), Poland (five percent) and Sudan (five percent). The percentages exclude the nine percent of rough sleepers whose nationalities were not identified.

Earlier this month, London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan vowed if he is re-elected to “eliminate” rough sleeping in the capital by 2030, though he said it would not be possible to meet this promise without Labour in power nationally too.

He said: “The causes of rough sleeping we can’t deal with without a change of Government. We know the causes of rough sleeping. One out of four people sleeping rough was formerly a tenant in private [rented] accommodation – that’s why ‘no fault’ evictions have got to go.

“We also know some of the welfare benefits changes made by the Government have been a source for those sleeping rough. That’s got to go as well.”

Asked about rough sleeping and its causes last week, Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall said: “There is no simple answer to homelessness.

“Mental health issues sometimes cause it, sometimes family breakdowns cause it, we’ve got veterans very sadly on the streets.

“There are so many different reasons for homelessness, but the answer is we’ve got to build more homes, more properties, that people can live in.”

The Salvation Army said that in the short term, a change is needed to homelessness legislation in England so that all rough sleepers are added to the “priority need list” for emergency and then longer-term housing but, in the longer term, the priority need list should be abolished so everyone who is homeless can be helped.

The charity said it also wants to see a commitment to a sustained investment and increase in housing stock and especially social housing across the UK.

A spokesman at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “We are spending an unprecedented £2.4 billion to tackle homelessness and end rough sleeping for good.

“This is alongside our life-changing cash injection of over £191 million to London boroughs over three years, supplying hundreds of beds and specialist support for the most vulnerable.

“We have also given £4 billion to the Greater London Authority to deliver more affordable and social housing and this funding has helped deliver over 147,400 new affordable homes in London since 2010.”

The City of Westminster recorded the highest number of people sleeping on its streets. Camden had the second highest number. Fifteen London boroughs recorded more than 100 people sleeping out, according to the latest figures.

Rough sleeping in London (CHAIN reports) Greater London Authority (GLA).

Additional reporting by Linus Rees.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/05/03/number-of-people-sleeping-on-the-streets-in-london-up-33-percent/

#CityOfWestmiinster #GreaterLondonAuthority #homelessness #LondonBoroughOfCamden #roughSleepers #roughSleeping

Cambridge #StreetVet a 'lifeline' to rough sleepers and their pets.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-67808077

"A charity is offering care and support to the four-legged friends of a city's rough sleeping community.

Volunteers with StreetVet provide medical check-ups, treatment and outreach care in Cambridge city centre every week."
#Pets #RoughSleepers

The “cruel and appalling” removal of tents belonging to people sleeping rough in Camden has been slammed by politicians who have demanded to know why it happened.

Cllr Tom Simon, who leads the Liberal Democrat opposition on Camden Council, hit out at the action at Huntley Street, outside University College Hospital in Fitzrovia earlier in the month. He attacked the council’s involvement in clearing tents off the private land.

It emerged the council arranged waste collection which removed tents pitched outside the hospital. The council’s rough sleeping support services were asked to help people affected following a joint operation by police and the hospital to remove rough sleepers on private land.

The operation came after the then Home Secretary Suella Braverman was widely condemned for saying that living in a tent is a “lifestyle choice for some”.

Cllr Simon told a full council meeting on Monday 20 November he was appalled by the Labour-controlled council’s involvement in removing people and their belongings.

He said: “The events of 10 November were one of the darkest in the history of Camden.”

“That officers and contractors of this council were involved in the cruel dispersal of rough sleepers, some of the most vulnerable people in our borough, destruction of belongings they possess was appalling.”

He said: “One of the key barriers in helping rough sleepers is a lack of trust of authority.”

Camden has London’s second highest population of rough sleepers, partly because it is close to major transport hubs. 

Cllr Simon asked: “What corrosive effect will this council’s actions on that day have had on the homeless people affected directly but also on rough sleepers across the borough and beyond?”

Labour party councillor Pat Callaghan, the acting council leader, responded: “I want to make it clear these actions are the opposite of everything we stand for.”

She agreed “it was a very dark day. We were horrified but we acted quickly.”

She told the full council meeting that six of the eight affected rough sleepers have now offered accommodation.

“We will continue to provide extensive support for those individuals.”

The council is investigating what happened and Callaghan pledged to make the report public.

Cllr Simon said in nearby Haringey, councillors had been assured that waste contractor Veolia would not remove homeless people’s belongings without a request from a local authority.

In a letter to councillors, Haringey’s cabinet member for tackling inequality and residents services, Seema Chandwani, said: “I spoke to the UK Managing Director of Veolia yesterday and he wanted to reassure that Veolia have a clear policy not to remove belongings of homeless people, without expressed written request from the council they work for.

“They were asked by Camden Council to do so in this case.”

A Veolia spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “For many years we have provided waste management and recycling services in the borough on behalf of, and under the strict supervision of, Camden Council — and the police when needed. This was the case in this instance. We consider ourselves to be part of the local community and strive to carry out our duties with compassion and understanding.

“We follow all the procedures and requirements needed when it comes to removing sensitive items. We are working internally and with Camden Council to review how requests of this nature will be handled in the future.”

Simon asked if the council had given express written permission for the removal of property.

He stressed the investigation should look at the council’s role in removing residents’ belongings and who made the decision to involve council officers and  also wanted to know about compensation for the destruction of residents’ property.

Callaghan said there will be compensation available and added “quite a bit of property was saved”.

Conservative leader Cllr Gio Spinella said it was crucial to find out what instructions council officers were given.

Camden Council: full council, Monday 20 November 2023. Webcast.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2023/11/24/opposition-hits-out-at-camdens-homeless-peoples-tent-removal/

#CamdenCouncil #homeless #homelessness #housing #HuntleyStreet #localDemocracyReporting #LondonBoroughOfCamden #roughSleepers #roughSleeping

Being punished for feeding the homeless? That's utterly disgusting.

We should be helping the homeless, not starving them!

This sort of thing is why I've written a series on rough sleeping. It's clear a cultural shift is needed across the world.

@jeffjarvis @washingtonpost #houston #texas #Homeless #unitedstates #roughsleeping #roughsleepers

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/08/09/houston-food-not-bombs-acquitted/