A report by the Local Government Association (LGA) found that the demand for help has increased by 130% in eight years and predicts the rate will double by 2025. People over the age of 60 are now twice as likely to register with local councils as homeless than they were seven years ago, with the […]
A major independent report into rough sleeping in Liverpool calls for a change in legislation that prevents people from claiming support. As well as calling on the Government to urgently review how those with no address can claim benefits, the ‘Routes out of Rough Sleeping’ report also identifies failings within the health service to meet the […]
More than 21,000 homeless people have been admitted to hospital with problems relating to drink and drugs over the past three years. A BBC investigation found the number of people of no fixed abode admitted for drug addiction increased by about a quarter between 2014 and 2016. The government said the issue was “complex” with […]
The founder of The Big Issue says that homelessness in the UK has reached a state of emergency. Lord John Bird, 71, said that UK Governments have wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds to prolong poverty, rather than working to prevent it. The social entrepreneur and homelessness activist says that we’re sleepwalking straight into a […]
A cold weather shelter for rough sleepers in Liverpool city centre could save lives this winter, a police superintendent says. Liverpool City Council wants to use the ground floor of a building in Camden Street, off London Road, as a severe weather night facility for homeless people between October and March. The council has applied […]
A new report reveals that one in five young people in the UK have sofa-surfed in the past year – and almost half of them have done so for more than a month. London Assembly housing committee’s report on hidden homeless sheds light an issue that is invisible to most of the public and by many […]
Homeless patients are being urged to seek treatment at ten GP practices in Greater Manchester rather than hospital A&E departments. Contrary to popular belief, patients do not need identification or proof of address be seen by a GP, but some homeless people claim they have been turned away. So practices in Manchester, Oldham, Bury, Bolton […]
Counselling may help you overcome some common fears, says Jo Kenyon at Venus. Jo says that whilst this particular case relates to a person who had a terrible fear of birds, (which is called “Ornithophobia” if you’re interested!) counselling may be helpful to address a whole range of different issues. Jo adds: Before I tell […]
The government is “seriously undermining” the fight against homelessness with its benefits reforms, says the Chartered Institute of Housing. This comes just a week after the National Audit Office condemned the government for not assessing the role of welfare reform was playing in the rise in homeless since austerity began in 2010. The NAO pointed […]
The Citizens Advice Bureau has published a report analysing the implementation of Universal Credit and rising debt – and it identifies a number of problems that could cause or exacerbate debt problems. In the report the CAB says that Universal Credit (UC) represents the biggest change to the welfare system undertaken since its inception by […]
