London charity puts on 'extra shifts' to find rough sleepers

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities, Local Government

A homelessness charity in London is sending out extra shifts of staff and volunteers every night to help find people sleeping rough in the capital.

Thames Reach - one of the UK’s leading homelessness charities - says emergency accommodation is being set up by councils to house homeless people across the capital as London shivers in the grip of an icy cold snap.

Thames Reach’s London Street Rescue service and specialist street outreach response teams find people sleeping rough and get them to sheltered accommodation.

In London, when temperatures drop below zero on three consecutive nights, the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) is implemented, which provides emergency accommodation so that no one dies on the streets due to the cold weather.

Government estimates suggest that there were over 400 rough sleepers in London on any one night around this time last year.

Jeremy Swain, Thames Reach’s Chief Executive, said "it can be a matter of life and death" for those sleeping out on the streets when temperatures plummet below zero.

He said: “I’d like to encourage the public to phone in any sightings of people they see sleeping rough across London so we can get out to them and take them into somewhere safe and warm.”

The public can support Thames Reach by volunteering for the charity’s London Street Rescue Service or by making a donation which could be used to help a homeless person get their lives back on track by, for instance, paying for a new set of clothes.