While our approach to helping people who are homeless or rough sleeping is all year round, we recognise that you may be contacted by residents concerned about people sleeping out at this time of year, particularly as it starts to get colder.
With winter approaching I wanted to reassure you that we have the support and accommodation in place to continue to help people who have become homeless, including those who are rough sleeping.
I will also set out below how people can let us know when they see or suspect someone is rough sleeping, and how members of the public can get involved and help vulnerable people this winter.
Support and accommodation are available
West Suffolk Council works to prevent hundreds of households from becoming homeless each year as well as helping people out of homelessness, and people away from rough sleeping.
The Council, over a period of several years, has invested in a range of different types of accommodation to help support people with different, and sometimes complex, needs.
Alongside this accommodation, the Council has a service dedicated to helping people who are rough sleeping to get the support and accommodation that they need. Since it was set up in September 2018, the rough sleeper service, through providing support and accommodation, has reduced the number of people rough sleeping in West Suffolk from 36 to nine (although this figure can fluctuate).
Not everybody is ready to be helped and even when they are, the rough sleeper service works hard to ensure people don’t slip back into old habits and get evicted from the accommodation we have found for them.
There are some whose behaviour when previously housed, makes it harder to find them accommodation without risking the safety of other vulnerable people we are helping – nevertheless the Council is continuing to do all that it can to help them.
All nine people who are currently rough sleeping have either previously been accommodated or have been offered accommodation but declined. West Suffolk Council is continuing to try to help all nine, and any others who are identified, with support and/or accommodation.
How people can let us know about people they know or suspect are rough sleeping
If you know or suspect someone is sleeping rough, the quickest way to report it to the Council’s rough sleeper service is using Streetlink www.streetlink.org.uk – service then gets an alert and they will go and speak to the person (if they aren’t already) to try to get them the help that they need.
How can people help?
West Suffolk works with a number of charities and voluntary organisations in the district who help vulnerable people (not just people who are homeless or rough sleeping). As of 1 November, the Council has begun a social media campaign highlighting the work of these charities and voluntary organisations and letting people know how they can help whether by donations or volunteering.
The Looking for Change campaign run by the charity Bury Drop In and in Newmarket with the Newmarket InterFaith Forum, is still going.
The campaign encourages people not to give money to people that they see on the streets. This is because sometimes the people presenting themselves as rough sleepers are often accommodated while in other cases the money they receive is being spent on feeding their addiction, making it harder to get them to engage with the support and accommodation available – in effect keeping them on the streets. Where people are accommodated it may jeopardise their accommodation undoing some of the good work that has taken place to try to help them.
Looking for Change instead challenges people to think about the reasons why they give – and instead give to the charity. The money is then used to help people who have previously been rough sleeping, who have subsequently stayed in temporary accommodation while they got support for any mental health or addiction issues that they may have, and who are ready to move into more settled and permanent accommodation.
It is helping people rebuild their lives. One story the Council has already highlighted is Steve (not his real name), a former rough sleeper who has received support through Looking for Change for equipment so that he may study for his chosen career. Others have benefitted through furniture to help them as they set up in a permanent and settled home.
I’ve attached the posters for both the Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket campaigns.
The campaign in Bury St Edmunds is backed by West Suffolk Council, Bury St Edmunds Town Council, Suffolk Police, Our Bury St Edmunds Business Improvement District and the Bury Free Press. People can support the campaign through a text by typing BSE followed by the amount (so for £5 type BSE5) and send to 70085. You can also donate online at https://burydropin.echoleft.com/fundraising/bury-looking-for-change/donate
In Newmarket, the campaign which was launched by the Newmarket InterFaith Forum and Bury Drop In, is backed by West Suffolk Council, Newmarket Town Council, Suffolk Police, Love Newmarket Business Improvement District and the Newmarket Journal. People can support the campaign through a text by typing NKT followed by the amount (so for £5 type NKT5) and send to 70085. You can also donate online at https://echoleft.com/fundraising/newmarket-looking-for-change/donate