How to help someone who is sleeping rough

Homeless Person Facts:

• At least 7,581 people are believed to have slept rough in London in 2014/15, a 16 per cent rise on the previous year.
• 36% are disabled in some way
• 71% are male
• The average life expectancy is a shockingly young 47 years old.
• 78% have a physical health problem
• 44% have a diagnosed mental health condition (many are undiagnosed)
• On any given night in 2014, 2,744 people were sleeping rough in England.
• Only 27% have an alcohol problem,

Data from Homeless.org.uk

OK but what do I actually do:

1) Contact StreetLink & make a referral

You can find them at streetlink.org.uk, call the 24 hour hotline on 0300 5000914, or even download the StreetLink app on smart phones.

Ensure you give them as much info as possible:

• Giving exact locations, including coordinates etc
• Times you’ve seen them at this location. Times you’ve seen them NOT at this location.
• Remember the person must be someone actually sleeping rough (i.e. overnight)
• Their services are between 10pm-7am

2) Hand out this leaflet (or similar)

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/downloads_and_tools/housing_advice_booklets/homeless_read_this

3) Help them in any other ways

There is no right or wrong thing to do here however in line with money-saving we have given vouchers for free food / drinks etc and have encouraged many to use O2 moments £1 lunches to give food.