Homelessness in our Community: How we can help.

We get a lot of calls around rough sleeping from people questioning what can be done. Sadly, rough sleeping has increased by around sixty per cent in the last decade in London but we can fix this. 

Parliament has repealed the vagrancy act meaning that neither being homeless nor begging is a criminal offence. This reflects the attitude held by most that giving a homeless person a fine will not resolve the underlying causes of homelessness.

People suffering from drug addiction are some of the most vulnerable in our society. Hammersmith and Fulham council funds Turning Point drug workers as well as St. Mungo’s Homelessness services. We frequently make referrals to these services and work with them. 

Your local policing team has quite a few cases appearing at court between now and 2030 in which we are chasing convictions for drug supply. Possession only would rarely lead to prison time but we think focusing on the dealers to make it harder to sell drugs is the most effective and ethical use of limited police resources 

Homelessness is not inevitable and we all have a role to play in ending this blight. One of the simplest ways is by asking someone if they would like a StreetLink referral made to help them access help. Even saying ‘Good Morning’ and passing a few words can help someone feel connected to society.   

StreetLink - Connecting people sleeping rough to local services