No, that’s not true

I used to be on the board of Crisis (back when it was Crisis at Christmas) so I know a bit about this.

Homeless is everyone without a permanent home - those in b&bs, those in hostels, those in shelters and so on.

Rough sleepers are a subset of the homeless - those not in any form of temporary accommodation. They are the hardcore and usually the hardest to help (because the reason they aren’t in accommodation is usually mental health issues or addictions, either of which make it very difficult to house them in an ordinary b&b or hostel).

This is a very old distinction.

There’s more use of “rough sleepers” at the moment because there are more rough sleepers (which is a direct result of austerity and which is an absolute disgrace). It’s worse in London now than I think I’ve ever seen it. Ever.

Dame Louise Carey wrote this the other day: “In London there are two facts that cause me pain. One, that the numbers of people sleeping rough for over two years is going up. These 2000-plus people are super vulnerable and need a home, treatment and care to route them off the streets. Eighty-eight per cent are diagnosed as needing drug, alcohol or mental health treatment. This figure has more than doubled since 2008-09. The other shaming fact is that some in this group have been on our watch since childhood: 10 per cent have been in care, in prison and now left on the streets for more than two years”

Posted By: Old Git, Nov 28, 11:52:08