CITY ROUGH SLEEPING IS ON THE UP AGAIN
NEW FIGURES SUGGEST HOMELESSNESS PROBLEM IS GETTING WORSE IN CARDIFF... AS ONE MAN OPENS UP ABOUT LIFE ON THE STREETS
THE number of homeless people sleeping rough in Cardiff has risen by 7% from this time last year, according to new figures.
Information released by charity for the homeless The Wallich also shows that in the first three months of 2017 the number rocketed by 13% from the same period in 2016.
Over the past three months The Wallich has helped 436 rough sleepers – 63% of them being male.
Most were older men – with 68% aged 36- 60, and 19 % aged 26-35.
Antony Kendall, director of operations for The Wallich, said: “We often see an increase in rough sleepers during the summer months as emergency ‘cold weather’ accommodation comes to an end.
“However, there is no doubt that there has been a worrying increase in the numbers we are seeing, not just in Cardiff but right across Wales, and there are a multitude of reasons for this increase, including changes to welfare benefits, and a lack of suitable move-on accommodation from homelessness services.”
The average age the centre helped for men was 41, and for women was 36 years old.
After leaving home in Dublin, 39-year-old Derek Clarke found himself sleeping rough when he lost his job.
He said: “I’ve been on and off the streets for 16 years.
“I used to be a heroin addict but have been clean for two years – I’m not ashamed to say it.
“It took a long time because it’s quite hard in hostels when you are doing drugs. It’s a hard place to live.
“I’m from Dublin but lived in London for two years before coming here.
“I was working in construction but lost my job. I haven’t been back home. There’s nothing there. I haven’t spoken to my dad for a long time.
“And then I just fell in with the wrong crowd. It took a long time for me to get out of it.”
Although he is getting by Derek gets hardly any help from charities, and with more and more people spending their nights on the streets, it’s getting harder to sort his life out.
He said: “There’s a lot more people on the streets in Cardiff than there was last year, there’s lots of new faces. If you go to soup kitchens there are so many people so you might lose out.
“The soup kitchens are really good – they make a big difference – but it’s first come, first served. And hostels are for people with priority, which tends to be younger people.”
The number of homeless people across other south Wales cities had also increased, according to the data,
In the past three months in Bridgend there was a 67% increase in the number of rough sleepers from 2016, in Newport the numbers were up by 93% from the same time in 2016, and in Swansea there were 21% more homeless people on the streets this year.
Cardiff council cabinet member for housing and communities Councillor Lynda Thorne said: “Addressing rough sleeping in the city is a key priority and we aim to work with partners to deliver our Rough Sleeper Strategy, including adopting a No First Night Out policy and piloting new approaches, including a Housing First model which moves rough sleepers straight from the streets into a home.
“We’re committed to working with individuals to support them to access services and our Outreach team works seven days a week both during the day and into the evening to engage with people sleeping rough or who are at risk of sleeping rough.
“We also work with charities such as Huggard, the Salvation Army, Wallich and the YMCA to provide hostel accommodation, a day centre, and a night bus service. However, individuals who sleep rough often have enormously complex issues and in some circumstances choose not to access our accommodation, instead sleeping rough for many years. In these circumstances, our Outreach team works directly with them on a daily basis.
“Unfortunately many of the people sleeping rough in Cardiff come from outside the city and have no local connection. This results in added pressure on services, so where appropriate we work with partners to help reconnect these individuals to their home area.
“We’ve also recently agreed funding for a number of housing projects to help address rough sleeping in the city and these projects will commence shortly.”