...where the heart is.
Today I attended Crisis’ Parliamentary Event ‘Make History: Build a Future Free From Homelessness’.
It was important for me to hear the stories and see the artwork provided by people that Crisis has supported through their front-line services.
I got to speak to Crisis colleagues and hear from their members Joan and Manoel on their experiences of homelessness, as well as read what home means to their supporters and provide my own thoughts on it too.
Stories were brought to life behind the growing numbers of people experiencing homelessness and this is particularly timely when new figures today from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) have today shown that 2,038 people were forced to sleep rough in London for the first time between January and March this year. Meanwhile, the UK Government has today published data revealing that the number of households trapped in temporary accommodation in England has reached a new record high. 112,660 households were living in temporary accommodation such as nightly paid B&Bs between October and December 2023, this includes over 145,800 children.
But it doesn't have to be this way and we know that homelessness can be ended.
I know our govt. can make a bold commitment to end all forms of homelessness, driven by truly cross-Government working.
For more information on the solutions Crisis is advocating for, please read our manifesto here – lets-make-history-a-manifesto-for-a-future-free-from-homelessness-crisis.pdf
