Rough sleeper rise "shocking and upsetting" but not a surprise, says charity
The latest Government Rough Sleeper Snapshot recorded an 11% increase in the the South West
A charity supporting rough sleepers across the south west says it isn't surprised that figures are rising, telling us that it's seeing a growing reliance on its services.
It comes as the latest Government Rough Sleeper Snapshot, which is a count of people seen sleeping on the streets in a given area on a single night in the Autumn, has recorded an 11 per cent rise in the region.
Naomi Webb, Director of Care and Support at Salisbury-based Alabaré says the data is "upsetting and shocking" but not unexpected.
"We are seeing a higher number of rough sleepers coming through to our drop-in provision and there is increased need an reliance on our supported housing accommodation across the whole of the South West," she said.
Strain on front line provision growing
Naomi said that the organisation, which works in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Devon, is seeing the pressure on services increase.
"The complexities of those coming through our services are increasing," she said. "There's a high majority of clients that come through with mental health illness, for example, which does mean that there's specialist support that's required.
"It does put additional stresses on the frontline staff, and it means that we continually need to make sure that we're making best use of bed spaces."
While the rough sleeper crisis is deepening, the housing crisis is making it difficult to ensure people can successfully rebuild their lives and move to independent living, meaning beds in supported living accommodation are blocked.
Funding coming, but will it be enough?
The Government has ring-fenced £50 million to tackle the crisis, but Naomi doesn't feel it will address the full need.
She said: "We recognise that Government has reconfirmed the money is coming, it does seem to be more focussed on entrenched rough sleeping, but there is a new flow of rough sleepers coming through as we face the cost-of-living crisis and increased numbers of domestic abuse cases."
Despite the growing strain on services, Naomi is urging people in need to keep reaching out for help, insisting they're much more than a shelter.
"We do provide homes, but we restore hearts and empower minds, and alongside that, we have various specialist teams who focus on mental health, those coming through the veterans pathway, young people," she told us. "There's a huge array of support we can give and what we can't give, we can signpost out to other agencies and charities that we work in close partnership with."