Mayor praises Londoners’ help for rough sleepers as new cold-weather shelter policy takes effect

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today praised Londoners for doing more than ever before to help connect rough sleepers with services in the capital, as the current spell of freezing temperatures saw cold-weather shelters across the capital open for the tenth night in a row.

In December, the Mayor launched his “No one needs to sleep rough in London” campaign, encouraging Londoners to let services run by him and local councils know about rough sleepers they are concerned about through a simple app, ‘StreetLink’. Since the start of the campaign, Londoners have made 3,579 referrals through StreetLink – the highest level on record, up almost 50 per cent from 2,461 referrals over the equivalent period last year.

At the launch of the campaign, Sadiq changed City Hall policy to open cold-weather shelters more often, by opening them on every night temperatures fall below zero. Under the previous Mayor’s policy, shelters only opened when three consecutive nights of sub-zero temperatures were forecast. Sadiq did not believe this policy went far enough to help those sleeping rough in the capital, and as a result of his new policy, cold-weather shelters have been open for 24 nights since the beginning of December, compared to the 19 nights they would have been open in this same period under the previous Mayor’s policy.

Sadiq also worked with all 33 London boroughs to help them change their local policies and operate in the same way. The work of boroughs, faith-based organisations, and City Hall means that almost 1,000 spaces have been available across the capital to those who need them on each of the nights when temperatures have fallen below zero.

The campaign also brought together for the first time a coalition of 18 homelessness charities, offering a single donation point to which Londoners have so far given over £100,000. The Mayor is encouraging Londoners to continue to donate - with every penny going to support rough sleepers.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “No one should be faced with sleeping rough on our streets, and the Government needs to go much further in giving us the resources we need to help rough sleepers, and in addressing the root causes of homelessness. In the meantime, I want to make sure we are doing all we can to help now, which is why I changed the policy I inherited of waiting for three days of freezing temperatures before opening the shelters. Shelters across London are now open every night it gets that cold, meaning we can offer Londoners in that desperate situation somewhere warm for the night and an offer of further help.

“Londoners have also shown they are ready to play their part in doing all they can to help rough sleepers now. They have responded to our campaign in a phenomenal way, helping connect more Londoners than ever before with services in the capital, and raising over £100,000 to go further with the services charities can offer. With more than 8,000 people sleeping rough on our streets, there is always more we can all do and I urge Londoners to keep giving, and to let StreetLink know if they see anyone sleeping rough this winter.”

Petra Salva, Director of Rough Sleeper, Offender and Migrants Services at St Mungo’s, said "It's always crucial and becomes even more critical to help people sleeping rough when temperatures hit freezing. With the backing of the Mayor and the united efforts of London organisations, boroughs and individuals, the good news is that so many people have been helped this winter. The challenge is to continue to provide support to help people long term away from the streets."

Bill Tidnam, Thames Reach Director of Operations, said: "We welcome this change in policy. It means that people who are sleeping rough will be safer in cold weather, and it helps our staff and volunteers work with them to get them off the street for good.”

The Mayor is asking people to donate to the London Charities Homeless Group via a GoFundMe page set up by the coalition. Details can be found here:www.london.gov.uk/help-rough-sleepers.

ENDS

Notes to editors

• The Mayor’s outreach team, London Street Rescue, has conducted nearly 300 shifts since December, offering help and support to those sleeping rough.
• Over the current period of continuous sub-zero temperatures, City Hall-run shelters, which provide overflow when local boroughs are full, have seen 67 people referred to them, with around half already helped with onward support.
• The money raised from the campaign will be split equally between the 18 charities. The donations of over £100,000 could provide
  • Decent clothes for 10,000 people coming in off the streets;
  • Things needed to set up home, like pots, pans and bed linen for 4,000 people; or
  • Help for 2,000 people to gain the skills or qualifications they need to sustain a life away from the streets.
• The new coalition of 18 charities - London Homeless Charities Group consists of:

o    Albert Kennedy Trust

o    Centrepoint

o    The Connection at St Martins

o    Crisis

o    Depaul

o    Homeless Link

o    Housing Justice

o    LandAid

o    New Horizon Youth Centre

o    Providence Row

o    Shelter

o    St Mungo’s

o    Thames Reach

o    The Big Issue Foundation

o    The Passage

o    The Salvation Army

o    West London Mission

o    YMCA England
 

• The campaign will run until mid-February. The donation page on London.gov.uk and information for contacting StreetLink will remain atwww.london.gov.uk/helproughsleepers
   
• The total number of rough sleepers seen rough sleeping in London in 2016/17 was 8,108. This compares to 8,096 the previous year. The figure reported in 2010/11 was of 3,975. Chain statistics are here: https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/chain-reports.
   
• The Mayor has set up the ‘No Nights Sleeping Rough’ taskforce - a London-wide taskforce to oversee the implementation of the Mayor’s rough sleeping work and funding priorities. Chaired by James Murray, the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development, it brings together partners key to tackling rough sleeping in London (including boroughs, voluntary organisations and government).
   
• City Hall also invests £9m a year in a range of pan-London services for rough sleepers. Last year, the rough sleeping services commissioned by the Mayor supported more than 1,600 people off the streets and helped a further 1,600 people with a history of rough sleeping, who are at risk of losing their accommodation and returning to the streets, to stay in their homes. More information about those services can be found here: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/housing-and-land/homelessness/mayor%E2%80%99s-rough-sleeping-services
   
• Through his Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21, the Mayor has made available up to £50m of capital funding to provide accommodation for people ready to move on from hostels, so that this group can live more independently and spaces are made available for those newly in need.
   
• The ‘No Nights Sleeping Rough’ taskforce helped the Mayor secure £4.2m from the government to help rough sleepers. That includes: £2 million (alongside £1 million from City Hall) for a rough-sleeping Social Impact Bond – an innovative results-focussed way of helping more than 300 of London’s rough sleepers with the most complex needs, such as mental health issues and drug and alcohol problems; £1.875 million for a ‘Safe Connections’ project, to help people who have slept rough at least twice in the last three months; and £340,000 for a pan-London ‘Hostels Clearing House’ pilot, to help councils and the services they commission make optimum use of London’s hostel spaces for rough sleepers.