With temperatures falling across many parts of the UK, leading homelessness charity St Mungo’s has issued advice on how people can best support those rough sleeping this winter.
St Mungo’s reports that winter traditionally sees the highest proportion of people they support requiring emergency assistance. Last winter, nearly half (43 per cent) of the people St Mungo’s Outreach teams assessed had physical health needs including respiratory illnesses, hypothermia, and frostbite
The numbers of people faced with the harsh reality of homelessness continues to rise, with 5,000 people recorded as sleeping rough in England on a single night last year.
In order to support those who are rough sleeping during winter, you can:
- Call 999 in cases of medical emergency, or when somebody is in immediate danger
- Contact Streetlink: This service connects people rough sleeping with local support and outreach services. When submitting a referral, including as much detail as possible will make it easier for our teams to find and support that person.
- Find out about your local services: Nearby day centres, meal centres, health services, warm spaces and community spaces, and sharing their details with someone experiencing homelessness can help them to access immediate support. You can also advise people who are rough sleeping to contact their local council for support, if they have not done so already.
- Offer a hot drink: A hot drink can help warm people up in cold weather. Checking a person’s preferences is a simple way to show respect and ensures that your offer is as useful as possible.
- Start a conversation: Homelessness can have a negative impact on someone’s mental health and can be a very isolating experience. Asking somebody how their day is going may seem like a small gesture, but it can help to counter this isolation. You could also ask if somebody would like you to make a StreetLink referral on their behalf, or if there is anything specific that somebody would like help accessing.
- Donate or Volunteer: There are many ways you can volunteer for St Mungo’s, from supporting the work of their Outreach teams, to offering your unique skills to help with everything from art workshops to translation. Donating a one-off amount, or setting up a more regular donation, also helps to support St Mungo’s work rebuilding lives and ending homelessness.
Jill Thursby, Director of Pan and Central London and Street Homeless Services at St Mungo’s says: “People forced to sleep rough on the streets face many dangers every single night, with the threat of violence and illness around every corner. Add to that freezing and wet conditions, and the risks become even greater. It can even be fatal.
“With homelessness levels continuing to rise, it’s easy to feel powerless. But the guidance we’ve shared here shows how you can make a real difference— helping people who are rough sleeping to feel supported and enabling us to reach as many people as possible.
“As ever, our frontline teams remain on the streets every day and night of the year, finding and supporting people who are rough sleeping, and helping them access emergency accommodation and ongoing support.”
The number of people rough sleeping has increased by 164% since 2010, with a lack of affordable housing, rising rents, and cuts to services all fuelling a deepening crisis. People can support St Mungo’s in a number of ways, including donating and volunteering. Our wider website contains more information on how to do this.
