Sam weighs in for the homeless
STAR SETS UP PETITION TO AXE HELPLINE CHARGES
SAM Fender has set up a petition in a bid to stop North East councils charging vulnerable residents who call helplines.
The North Shields singer has been supporting North East Homeless (NEH), which has been calling on councils to offer free helplines for homeless and vulnerable people in need of urgent support.
In September, NEH raised concerns that people in urgent need of housing and other support wouldn’t be able to afford the cost of calling council helplines at a time when the charity was forced to halt its outreach programme.
Charity founder Brian Burridge has demanded councils make the helplines free to ensure those who are most in need of assistance get it.
And Mr Burridge’s campaign has been a partial success, with Newcastle City Council and North Tyneside Councils making the changes.
But Gateshead, Durham, South Tyneside and Northumberland Councils were still operating phone lines that charged callers during the second lockdown, although they say there are alternative ways for those in need to contact them.
On Thursday, the Hypersonic Missiles singer took to social media to announce that he has now set up a petition to call for local authorities to take action.
With a 100,000-signature target to get this petition heard by the Government, Sam has reached out to his fans for their support.
Sam said: “I’ve had friends, even close family members, who’ve been homeless so the issue is close to my heart and I know just how easy it is to end up on the street.
“It’s going to be even worse for homeless people this Christmas time with the lockdown.
“We’ve been working with a number of homeless charities for our latest release, Winter Song, and North East Homeless have informed us that four out of seven local councils charge up to 40p per minute for their helplines.
“If you’ve got nothing and you’re skint, this is a lot of money.
“So we’ve launched a petition to push local authorities to offer free helplines to support the homeless and vulnerable when they are most in need.
“This means anyone can reach out for help with housing if they’re struggling without having to pay for it.”
The petition has already been signed by thousands of people.
And Brian says he can’t thank Sam enough for his support of his campaign, which will potentially make a difference to hundreds of vulnerable people.
The dad-of-four said: “Sam knows about poverty and homelessness in the North
East and to have someone with the same passion towards vulnerable people being let down is brilliant.
“How can you ask for help if it costs you the money you don’t have?
“A massive thank you to Sam for starting this petition. It’s a huge ask but we need 100,000 signatures to get these phone numbers changed to free numbers in order to help people who are struggling.”
To see the petition, visit https://petition. parliament.uk/petitions/562213.
Meanwhile, the other three councils defended their positions when The Chronicle highlighted the issue last month.
Stuart Timmiss, Durham County Council’s head of development and housing, said: “We continue to provide support to people with a housing need in what are incredibly difficult times for them.
“We have looked into the possibility of making our housing advice line an 0800 number and despite the many positive comments and feedback we receive about our homeless services, we always listen to feedback and will keep this under review.
“Our advice line will continue to be available free of charge for anyone with a mobile package and for all calls we receive we will continue offer to phone the person back to save them expense.
“We will also continue to issue mobile phones with credit to rough sleepers who access our services to allow them to get in touch with us whenever they need support. Anyone with a housing need can also continue to contact us via email or our website.
“We continue to receive nothing but positivity in terms of feedback about how we assist the users of our housing solutions service. We strive to ensure no-one is excluded and that the service is accessible to everyone.”
Phil Soderquest, head of housing and public protection at Northumberland County Council, said: “People who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness have multiple points of access to the council, including through our contact centres and our customer service centre, which operates a standard landline charge.
“If we get such a call, a member of our Homelessness and Housing Options teams will call the person back, so they are not incurring a telephone charge.”
A spokeswoman for South Tyneside Council said: “The council is currently investigating the provision of a freephone number for homelessness queries or presentations.
“The service can be contacted free of charge from a public telephone in both South Shields Town Hall and Jarrow Town Hall.
“However, we appreciate that with reduced opening times of public buildings it has become increasingly difficult for people to use these facilities.”