Public urged to help end street homelessness in Leicester

The Leicester European End Street Homelessness Campaign, which seeks to identify people who are street homeless in the local community so that they can be helped off the streets, is asking members of the public to give their support.

The campaign calls for members of the public to report sightings of rough sleepers in the city using the Streetlink app or website, streetlink.org.uk

‘We’re appealing to the whole community to come together to help eradicate street homelessness and ensure that people affected get the help and support that they need’ said Mark Grant, Chief Executive of Action Homeless.

‘It’s really easy to tell us about someone you have seen rough sleeping using Streetlink, it only takes a couple of minutes, you provide basic details about where you have seen the person, and could make a huge difference.’

Intelligence provided by members of the public will be used right away in the lead up to and during a Connections Week scheduled to run from Monday 6th to Friday 10th November, which will see volunteers taking to the streets to locate and survey people who are sleeping out, with the aim of helping them to get off the streets as quickly as possible.

As well as the night-time counts, volunteers will visit day centres, hostels and accommodation projects around the city, talking to people who have recently experienced rough sleeping.

All of the information gathered through the campaign will result in more up to date and accurate figures around the number of people who are street homeless in the city. Using this information, partners will continue work to help these individuals with the longer term ambition of eradicating street homelessness in Leicester. The campaign will also help all agencies in the city as they work together to address the issue of street homelessness, contributing also to wider work under way to tackle street lifestyle issues.

A range of partners are working together on the project, The Building and Social Housing Foundation, Action Homeless, De Montfort University, DMU Local, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Leicestershire Police, The Y, East Midlands Housing Group and Inclusion Healthcare. Leicester City Council are also a partner.

People who are interested in volunteering during the campaign’s Connections Week can contact ESHLeicester@actionhomeless.org.uk or call 0116 2211851 for further information