With rising temperatures across many parts of the UK, leading homelessness charity St Mungo’s has issued new advice on how people can best support those who are rough sleeping during dangerously hot weather.
“Soaring temperatures can be deadly for those who are sleeping rough,” says James Lally, Director of Pan and Central London and Street Homeless Services at St Mungo’s.
“On the streets, it can be difficult to access water, sunscreen, and places to shelter from the sun, meaning that those experiencing homelessness have a particularly high risk of developing life-threatening heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion, dehydration, or heat stroke.”
If you would like to help people sleeping rough on the streets, the charity advises that there are several ways that you can offer support to people experiencing homelessness during hot weather:
- Contact Streetlink to connect people rough sleeping with local support
- Offer sun cream: sun cream can often be quite costly, meaning that it may be inaccessible to people experiencing homelessness
- Offer water: it can be difficult to access clean, cold water on the streets
- Offer protective clothing such as sunglasses, hats, light scarves, and light, loose-fitting cotton clothes
In a medical emergency, or when somebody is in immediate danger, always call 999.
During this time, St Mungo’s will be taking additional steps to protect and advise people who are currently sleeping rough, providing sunscreen, protective clothing and water to anyone on the streets, as well as providing advice around how to stay safe and well during the hotter weather.
Last year, St Mungo’s supported almost 25,000 people across 138 services – and supported over 2,100 people experiencing homelessness on any given night. The charity runs services in London, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Brighton, Bristol, Leicester, Oxford and Reading.
“As ever, St Mungo’s teams are prepared to respond to this critical situation,” says James Lally. “We will continue to work tirelessly, with the support of local authorities, to ensure people sleeping rough have access to water, shelter, and sun cream. We will also increase the number of Outreach shifts taking place during this time.”
