Town has seen a big rise in homelessness
THE number of people sleeping rough on the streets of England has reached an all time high, with a rise of 73 per cent since 2015. This is data that was released by the government recently.
Anyone who works in homelessness services will know that these figures are always greatly under estimated and flawed in the way that the data is collected.
Which means the actual number of people homeless on our streets is much higher than the government say.
We have seen a significant rise in Stockport over the last few months.
As the weather is now warmer we do not have any cold weather provision in place, meaning that anyone who the council label as non-priority homeless has no option but to sleep on the streets.
Wellspring has stepped up its outreach services and increased its opening hours to try and deal with the demand.
Numerous people are sleeping rough in the town centre, some are begging and are not being helped by well meaning members of the public giving them money daily.
Giving people money in the street really does nothing to help that person to change their situation, it often just keeps people trapped in a cycle of addiction.
If you see anyone who appears homeless or is begging in Stockport, please let them know about The Wellspring.
It was wonderful this week to be visited by Lord Goddard of Stockport and Wellspring patron Gordon Burns.
Lord Goddard has also become a patron of The Wellspring charity.
I am delighted that we have a new patron who has such a passion and understanding of Stockport. Lord Goddard said: “I am proud and humbled to become a patron of the Wellspring charity. I hope to help raise the profile and indeed funds to enable the fantastic staff and volunteers to carry on supporting the most vulnerable members of our society in Stockport.
“You can be sure I will be beating the drum not only in Stockport but also Parliament.
“Homelessness is a national scandal, but the Wellspring charity just gets on day in day out supporting, helping, teaching, feeding, making a real difference to anyone and everyone that come to their door. Thank you for letting me help in some small way.”
For more information about The Wellspring and the services provided, please visit www. thewellspring.co.uk or come and visit the project on Harvey Street any day.