The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today announced he alongside the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is providing £300,000 to homelessness charities Crisis and St Mungo’s, supporting them to extend accommodation for people sleeping rough at one of its Christmas hotels for an extra four weeks.
These hotels provide vital shelter and one-to-one support to help people leave the streets behind for good.
Over the festive period, Crisis will provide accommodation to more than 570 people in London who would otherwise be sleeping rough.
By providing people with their own hotel room and access to a lead worker who can give one-to-one support, Crisis is seeing fewer people return to life on the streets.
The £300,000 funding announced by the Mayor today will go towards Crisis’ accommodation until the end of January and enable St Mungo’s charity to carry out additional assessments and specialised casework to ensure over 170 get the best possible chance to end their homelessness.
Last year, 65 per cent of the guests who stayed in Crisis’ extension hotel until the end of January, were not seen rough sleeping three months later.
In addition to its three hotels across the capital, Crisis will also be operating three-day centres providing warmth, companionship and health and wellbeing services to people in insecure housing situations. Both the day centres and hotel services offer warm food, clothing and access to vital support and advice such as GP services, haircuts, and eye tests.
With rough sleeping rising across the country including a 20 per cent increase in the capital, tackling rough sleeping and homelessness is a top priority for the Mayor. He has pledged to end rough sleeping by 2030. Since taking office in 2016, Sadiq has quadrupled funding and helped 17,600 people off the streets, 75 per cent of which have stayed off the streets for good.
Today the Mayor visited the Crisis warehouse centre to help the charity prepare for its Crisis at Christmas appeal, which encourages people to help through fundraising, volunteering, and campaigning. At the warehouse, the Mayor helped Crisis volunteers to pack and organise food donations which will be delivered to the charity’s day centres and hotels across London.
It followed the Mayor’s inaugural mixed charity football match between cross-party politicians and journalists, held in partnership with the Chelsea Foundation. The ‘London vs Homelessness’ match took place at Kingsmeadow, the home of Chelsea FC Women, on Monday evening, with all players pledging to do a volunteer shift for Crisis.
In addition, the Mayor is urging Londoners to donate to his annual winter rough sleeping campaign, by donating at contactless TAP London points across the capital or online. Londoners can also support the campaign by flagging rough sleepers to support services through StreetLink.
Sadiq’s winter rough sleeping campaign has raised more than £700,000 since 2017.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said, “Decades of cuts to public services and the chronic housing shortage brought on by the previous Government have led to a shocking rise in rough sleeping and homelessness. I am doing everything I can to tackle this dire situation and urge Londoners to help by referring people they see sleeping rough to StreetLink, or donating whatever they can to my rough sleeping campaign to support a host of homelessness charities doing incredible work.
“Crisis is a lifeline to those sleeping rough, and this funding will enable it to extend its Christmas accommodation, so that more people can benefit from shelter and specialised support this winter. I’m proud to be supporting Crisis and, by hosting my inaugural charity football match, raising further awareness for its vital Christmas appeal. Together we can kick rough sleeping out of the capital by 2030 and build a fairer London for everyone.”
Matt Downie, Crisis Chief Executive, said, “Providing our guests with additional time to access tailored support through our hotel provision is a dignified and proven approach that we know changes lives.
“During these extra weeks, guests will continue to receive one-to-one support and are provided with clear routes into year-round services on offer from organisations like Crisis.
“We are hugely grateful for the support of the Greater London Authority and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
“This year, we’ve seen unprecedented demand for our services and need the support of the public more than ever. By donating to Crisis this Christmas, you’ll be helping someone take their first step out of homelessness and onto a path to a safe and secure home, for good.”
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