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The Government commits to end rough sleeping ‘once and for all.’
Today, the Government has formally announced its ambition to end rough sleeping in our country ‘once and for all’. The call is challenging, but grounded in the success of the last ten years, when Government, charities and local councils have worked together to reduce the problem.
Jenny Edwards, chief executive of Homeless Link, the national network of homelessness charities, said:
'We welcome the Government’s commitment to ending rough sleeping once and for all. It has set out a visionary strategy that is both ambitious and practical. This is an important moment for our country. It is time to celebrate the progress we have made, for example the demise of the cardboard cities in central London, but, more importantly, it is time to look forward to what needs to be done to achieve this bold ambition.
We know it will not be easy at this time of intense economic and social pressure. We know that more needs to be done in local communities. We know we need support from other parts of the public sector if we are finally to close the door into homelessness in every local community. Working together, we can achieve the goal and inspire the world to follow our lead.'
ENDS
Notes to editors:
About Homeless Link
Homeless Link is the only national network of homelessness charities in the country. Our 450 member charities do the REAL hard work everyday with the 70,000 or so homeless people who access their
services every day.
Homeless Link calls for 10 key challenges to be overcome if we are to end rough sleeping by 2012. We have spokespeople available to speak to these issues. We can also provide facts and figures on homelessness and rough sleeping and case studies from London and across England, drawn from the extensive work of our member charities.
For a wealth of information on rough sleeping and Homeless Link’s work, please visit www.homeless.org.uk/roughsleeping and follow the relevant links or to arrange an interview with a spokesperson, please contact Gill Perkins, Head of Communications on 020 7960 3025 or 07881 921476 or email gill.perkins@homelesslink.org.uk.
