Rough Sleeping 'Snapshot' Figures Released

You may have seen the national rough sleeping statistics released yesterday. The official annual count represents a 'snapshot' of the numbers of people sleeping rough in each local authority around the country, and the increase or decrease year on year.

At the Booth Centre, we're in agreement with Homeless Link's CEO, Rick Henderson, that the progress in some areas is welcome and to see official statistics go down in Greater Manchester is overdue. But it's only scratching the surface of the real sustainable solutions to homelessness. One person sleeping rough is one too many.

Rick says: "We must fix our broken welfare system, tackle the poverty that so many people are living in, build more genuinely affordable homes, and work back from years of under investment in critical support services – our health and mental health services, drug and alcohol services, domestic violence services, and a challenged criminal justice system. Only then will we truly end rough sleeping for good.”
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At the Booth Centre, we're working hard alongside people experiencing homelessness and those sleeping rough on our streets, to support them to have a secure home and the opportunity to have a good quality of life. We will keep going for as long as people are still finding themselves in these awful, inhumane situations.

​Thank you for your continued support, without our supporters we would struggle to keep offering our vital services.

“Thousands of people are sleeping outside on our streets every night, and it is a shameful situation that so many are having to live like this in our country today, without a place to call home. Sleeping rough is extremely dangerous and detrimental to health – it has no place in our society and it reflects wider systems failure."

Read Rick's Article

See Official Statistics