Street outreach teams

Sleeping rough brings with it a network of complications, from life-threatening health conditions to loss of self-worth and aspiration.

Isolation and fear often mean that rough sleepers find it difficult to trust other people, and the longer they remain on the street, the more excluded they become from society.

St Mungo's street outreach teams go out every night to find people who are sleeping rough. They gradually build up trusting relationships, and offer support and encouragement to bring homeless men and women off the streets and into appropriate accommodation. Watch the team in action in this short video.

We also work with street drinkers who are not necessarily sleeping rough, providing a number of support programmes across London and the South. The London Borough of Westminster has by far the highest density of rough sleepers in the UK. Here, we work in close partnership with two other service providers, running an assessment and referral center where clients can get support and advice on a range of services - including health, drug and alcohol use, relocation, community support and housing.

At the end of 2012, St Mungo's launched the Street Impact outreach service, a new partnership with the Greater London Authority. Teams will be working with a group of around 400 named rough sleepers in central, north and west London to rebuild their lives away from the streets.

Street Impact is one of a number of new social impact bonds, financed by private investment. The service is measured against targets which include achieving sustained accommodation, reduction in visits to A&E hospital departments, supporting people into volunteering or work, or reconnections overseas.

St Mungo's believes no-one should live or sleep on the streets.  To ensure we have the best chance of finding people and helping them off the street all year round,  we operate a referral and response service called Street Concern - streetconcern@mungos.org.   You can email directly or leave details on our Tell us about a Rough Sleeper referral form if you are concerned about an individual and we will respond with 24 hours.

Our achievements

• In 2011-12 our Street Outreach teams in London helped 430 people off the streets and into accommodation
• Our Outreach teams in Bristol and Reading won funding from the Homelessness Transition Fund to develop a No Second Night Out approach to rough sleeping

Read about our cold weather support.

Read more about Street Impact in the Guardian and The Economist