Breakfast event focuses on homelessness in Sheffield

David Price and Bob Rae from Sheffield Church Action on Poverty report on the recent Civic Breakfast event.

A host of hidden problems facing initiatives to reduce rough sleeping on
Sheffield’s streets have been uncovered at an event, organised by Sheffield
Church Action on Poverty.

The group invited civic, business and charity leaders to a Civic Breakfast to raise awareness of local initiatives to help people off the streets and into permanent homes.

Speakers included Tim Renshaw, chief executive of the Cathedral Archer Project, which has been helping the homeless in Sheffield for 30 years; Connor Bradley, who talks to and provides support for rough sleepers every day as part of the outreach team at homelessness support organisation, Framework; and Sarah Batty, chief executive of Ben’s Centre, which helps people suffering from substance misuse.

Dr Joe Forde, chair of Sheffield Church Action on Poverty, said: “While the Civic Breakfast showed there are strong signs of hope, it also revealed that there are a number of hidden problems affecting rough sleepers.

“Many speakers highlighted the significant numbers of rough sleepers who return to the streets after being found secure accommodation because of feelings of loneliness, isolation and separation from the community in their new home. This emphasises the fact that providing accommodation for rough sleepers is not enough. They need significant support to truly feel ‘at home’ in their new homes.”

Other problems highlighted by speakers and attendees included

The pressing need to do more for women and girls sleeping rough on the
streets.
How safeguarding rules could now be having a negative effect on support for homeless people.
Finding accommodation for asylum seekers whose Home Office support
had ended.
The need for more public toilets, open 24 hours, in the interests of hygiene
and human dignity.

Tim Renshaw, from the Cathedral Archer Project, called on organisations across

Sheffield to work in partnership to achieve the city council’s aim of halving long-term rough sleeping.

Mr Renshaw said the Council target was achievable and everyone should get
behind it, however, he also stressed that most long-term rough sleepers suffered the long-term effects of mental health problems in addition to trauma or even brain injuries.

Framework’s Connor Bradley said domestic violence was a major cause of rough sleeping and highlighted the need for more resources, including social housing provision.

Mr Bradley said that, while Sheffield was good at partnership working, the city
lacked funding for appropriate bed space and needed a ‘ladder’ of accommodation that would enable rough sleepers to move from a basic night shelter to supported and, finally, unsupported housing

Sarah Batty, from Ben’s Centre, was among those highlighting the need to find ways to encourage people to stay when they found accommodation by helping them to overcome isolation and feel at home.

She highlighted the example of Nottingham, where a project to provide accommodation for rough sleepers linked to support and developing their
connections with the community was reducing the number who returned to the
streets.

Her comments brought an immediate response from Sheffield’s director of
housing, James Clark, who said he would investigate Nottingham’s innovative
approach.

Mr Clark added that although Government funding for council housing and homelessness work was tight, it did now allow councils to plan ahead for three
years. He also highlighted the need to do more for female rough sleepers.

Former city councillor Ben Curran highlighted the unintended consequences of
safeguarding rules which had led to one Sheffield church stopping offering sandwiches to homeless people from its vicarage.

Mr Curran added that people were becoming less aware of what was happening in their communities, citing the case of a man who began living in a shed after a relationship breakdown, but nobody had known he was there.