THE HOMELESS

No-one is sure exactly how many homeless people there are within the UK. In this essay I will discuss what information is known and what is being done to combat this growing problem.

When most of society hears the word 'homeless', the image that springs to mind is people sleeping on the streets of London. This maybe the general public viewpoint but at least two-thirds people sleeping rough are situated outside the capital. There is also hundreds of thousands of families and single people who are less visible who live in overcrowded, damp or unsafe housing. Alternatively they may live in temporary housing such as hostels or bed & breakfast hotels or may be living under the constant threat of eviction or repossession. The reasons why people are in this position will now be discussed.

Loss of income and job often leads people in the downward spiral of being unable to secure a home beacuse they have no income plus, at the same time, unable to secure work without a permanent address to apply for jobs from.

Reasons for becoming homeless also include relationship breakdown, domestic violence, problems with a landlord, and friends or relatives no longer being able to provide accommodation. Certain groups of people are also particularly vulnerable and these include young people out of care, the mentally ill (following the Care in the Community programme) and asylum seekers.

Individual reasons for being homeless can be complex but the underlying cause of the current crisis has been cited at the simple fact that there are not enough decent, affordable homes. The stock for social housing for rent has fallen steadily since the mid-1970s and government investment in house building has been significantly reduced.

There are many UK organisations set up trying the solve the above problem and it's various spin-offs. These include Shelter, whose aim is to have an affordable, fair, socially and economically sustainable housing system which is open to all. Other organisations helping the homeless and trying the solve the housing emergency are the Big Issue Foundation, the Rough Sleepers Unit and Crisis. Support can also be found on a regional level and a good example of this is Norwich's St Martin's Housing Trust.

Homelessness is not only a national issue within the UK but it is also an international crisis. Many charitable organisations worldwide, including People Serving People, located in the Minneapolis, USA, aim to combat this problem by running night shelters that serve up to 400 people each evening. This situation is mirrored across America.

It has also been a long held urban myth that there are homeless people living within London's Underground system as some do in New York as highlighted in the recent acclaimed documentary film 'Dark Days'. The essential plot of 'Fall & Rise' uses this myth to examine this as a base to study the above issue and the anger directed towards the homeless by ill-informed members of the public.