It will be a bleak Xmas this year for over 120,000 children in Britain who will be made homeless or have to live in temporary accommodation.

An analysis of government figures by Shelter, the homelessness charity, found the number of families living in emergency B&B and hostel rooms has risen by 18% in just one year. The charity also carried out in-depth interviews with 25 families currently or recently living in emergency B&B’s, hostels, or sofa-surfing.

More than three-quarters of the families questioned said they felt their accommodation was unsafe, with the worst accounts involving exposure to drug abuse, fighting, and strangers sleeping in the corridors. Shelter also discovered every family lived in a single room without any space for the children to play, and over half of the parents had to share a bed with their children. One family was sharing a two bedroom terraced house with three other families.

Three-fifths of the families said they had to share toilet and bathroom facilities with other residents, which were often in a poor and unsanitary condition. Whilst more than two-thirds told the charity their room was in a state of disrepair, citing mould, broken beds and stained mattresses. Some reported more serious hazards such as sparking electrical sockets and windows that wouldn’t close.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “News of the devastating rise in homeless children will bring heartache to millions of people across Britain. But the sad fact is, fifty years since Shelter was founded, too many families still need our help.”

“Almost daily we hear from parents desperate to escape the single cramped room of a B&B or hostel that they find themselves struggling to raise their children in. Imagine having to eat all of your meals on the floor, share a bed with the rest of your family, or being too frightened to leave your room at night – these are things no parent wants their child to endure.”

“That’s why we urgently need the public’s support to help us be there for the thousands of families who’ll need us this Christmas. Join us and together we will not rest until every homeless child has a place to call home.”

A photograph of children giving their “Penny-for-the-Guy” proceeds to a homeless man in Liverpool has gone viral on social media.

Three lads, Stephen, Kenzie and Kaden, had been raising money all day in Liverpool when they decided to give it away to homeless people. But, unbeknownst to them, their random act of kindness was caught on camera by a passer-by who shared it on social media – and it has been shared almost 10,000 times!

The group of youngsters spent last Tuesday collecting money for the ‘penny for the guy’ on Lord Street, in Liverpool city centre, but then selflessly gave their cash to a homeless man.

Polly Fontayne, who took the photo, posted it on Facebook and it has since been shared thousands of times. One of the youngsters, eight-year-old Stephen Murray, said to the man when they handed over the money, “here you go, because you’re saving up for a house aren’t you mate.”

Jackie Roberts, Kaden and Kenzi’s grandmother, said: “The boys are thrilled with the response from the public, and never thought it would get this reaction. I grounded them because they went to town, but after this reaction it’s hard to stay mad at them.”

“Over the course of the day I think they collected around £100 and as well as giving money to the homeless man, they also bought food for other homeless people around the city centre. I wasn’t surprised by their actions though, when we’re out in town they’re always affected by the homeless and want to do things to help them.”

“I’m really proud of them,” she said.

You can see the lads being interviewed here https://youtu.be/gxmxDxKpiQM

More than 200 people slept out in the grounds of St Nick’s church to help raise money for Liverpool homeless charity the Whitechapel Centre.

The annual event welcomed people from as far as Surrey, Bradford and Cardiff to get a taste of what it is like to sleep rough. Participants were given cardboard to make shelters to sleep in overnight and were encouraged to wear onesies. The aim of the event was to spread awareness about homelessness in Liverpool and raise funds to help support the work carried out by the charity, which won the prestigious Freedom of the City award this year.

David Carter, chief executive of The Whitechapel Centre, said: ‘We hope that this event will inform the public about what we do and help to increase the amount of services we provide. The money raised will go towards funding a range of services, including accommodation, travel costs, rent deposits and outreach support.”

As well as highlighting a serious message about Liverpool’s increasing homelessness, there was a variety of entertainment and fun activities for people to get involved in. Prizes were awarded for the most stylish onesie, the most creative and practical shelter and the best individual and team fundraisers.

Bernie Hollywood OBE, a philanthropist and adventurer, has taken part in The Liverpool Sleepout three times and brought along a team of 30 people to this year’s event. Dubbed ‘Bernie’s Barmy Sleepout Army’, his group was the largest party of the night and collectively raised around £3000.

He said: ‘I’m incredibly passionate about what The Whitechapel Centre does for homeless people in Liverpool. They provide help and support for people who need it the most and have saved so many lives over the years. As well as being a lot of fun, these kinds of events are incredibly important for promoting awareness about what they do. I hope that the money we make can help them to continue their great work.”

Andy Sloan, who works for Henry Schein, a worldwide distributor of medical, dental and veterinary supplies, handed out disposable toothbrushes to people taking part in the Sleepout and donated 250 toothbrushes to The Whitechapel Centre. He said: ‘I think that people from Liverpool are great at coming together to help one another. I’m glad to be able to do my bit and be part of such a worthwhile cause.’

For details of how you can support the Whitechapel Centre, go to their website www.whitechapelcentre.co.uk

Some homeless people are being told to sleep on the streets before they can get help from local authorities, despite a rise in assaults and deaths of rough sleepers.

Research by the homeless charity St. Mungo’s found some homeless people who went to their local council for help were turned away or told to sleep on the streets in order to access services. Of the 40 homeless people interviewed by St. Mungo’s, three-quarters said they slept on the street the night after they had asked a council for help.

The report, Nowhere Safe To Stay, states that 129 rough sleepers have died in London since 2010, with a 30% rise in the number of deaths in the last year alone. Around a quarter of the people interviewed reported being physically assaulted.

One person told researchers: “We decided to go to the local council and they told us that we had to sleep rough for three nights in a row before they could actually do anything to help us. We just felt complete despair.”

Another client spoke of the violence they have experience while sleeping rough: “I’ve been beaten up quite a few times sleeping in doorways, or even in cars. They smash the window in on top of you, spit on you, urinate on you, try and set you on fire. I’ve had all of those things happen to me.”

Howard Sinclair, St Mungo’s CEO, said: “It’s impossible not to be shocked by what our report has revealed. Too many people are dying on our streets and too many are living with damaging long-term consequences of not having a roof. St Mungo’s believes that the system for assisting people who are at risk of sleeping rough in England requires fundamental reform.”

“The funding package announced by the Prime Minister this week is a promising start. We hope it is the first step to a new and coherent national strategy to end rough sleeping. Parliament also has a once in a generation opportunity to improve the current homelessness law. I urge MPs to turn up to support the Homelessness Reduction Bill on 28 October and help persuade the government to back the bill and fully fund the implementation of this new legislation.”

“Rough sleeping has doubled since 2010 and continues to rise. Unless further action is taken, more people will experience the dangers of rough sleeping without the support they desperately need.”

St. Mungo’s is calling on the government to fundamentally reform the system so that no one is turned away by local authorities when they have nowhere to sleep.

A bill going through parliament that aims to reduce homelessness should be amended so current protections for vulnerable people “are not weakened”, MPs have said.

Members of the cross-party Communities and Local Government Committee backed the private members bill, which was tabled by Tory MP Bob Blackman, following its inquiry that took evidence from charities, local authorities and homelessness experts. The results of an inquiry into the Homelessness Reduction Bill recommends a number of changes before its second reading in the House of Commons on the 28^th of October.

The bill would place a legal duty on councils to prevent people from becoming homeless within 56 days of losing their home. But MPs have insisted that another, more controversial, clause in the bill should be amended. Clause 8 would deem a homeless household “intentionally homeless” – and therefore ineligible for housing assistance – if it fails to cooperate with the council’s support.

The committee, chaired by Labour MP Clive Betts, said: “Despite measures elsewhere in the draft bill that foster a partnership approach, clause 8 reverts to the adversarial ‘take it or leave it’ approach. If the clause is to stay in the bill, we believe it should be redrafted to ensure that protections for vulnerable people in priority need are not weakened.”

It also called for the bill to amend clause 9, which would require councils to provide 56 days of accommodation to applicants with a local connection but who are not in priority need and are homeless. This part of the bill received strong opposition from local authorities, who say that such a duty would place too much pressure on councils that are already struggling to keep up with increasing homelessness demand. For example, the Association of Housing Advice Services estimates that such a duty would cost £100m to implement in London alone.

The committee said: “We recognise the reality that it is not feasible for councils to provide accommodation to all homeless people. We therefore recommend that clause 9 be revised to restrict the duty to those whose safety is at risk.”

Despite ministers repeatedly saying they are sympathetic to its aims, the government has not formally backed the bill.