Why are the Homeless invading the streets of Preston?
Most cities around the UK have homeless people on the streets, it’s almost a given, but does that mean that it should be the norm? Any resident of Preston will have seen that the number of beggars and homeless has risen recently. Walking down Friargate on 3 separate days I counted 8, 9, and 12 people on the streets. This therefore raises a question, what is causing this significant number of people on the streets and what can be done?
During October and November last year Lancashire police carried out a survey to estimate the number of sleepers in the Lancashire area and it returned these results:
Source: http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/media/897479/rough-sleepers-2014-to-2015.pdf
Credit: Elliott Horsburgh
These figures show that both Preston and Lancaster have an estimated 8 rough sleepers on the streets at night. Now, police in this situation aren’t so much looking to help these people, as they are to arrest them or simply move them on. This doesn’t really tackle the problem at the root, so I went to speak to Toma Sukyte of The Foxton Centre, a Preston based shelter and help centre for the homeless.
“We do think that we have established ourselves here as a trustworthy place for people to come in and people can trust us and we try to do our best to help them the way we can.”
“We still believe that a relatively small number still know about us because people who come in to volunteer or donate tell us that they’ve never heard of us before”
This shows that the issue may be greater than people just sleeping rough. They aren’t even aware of the places they can go, places where they can get help and support in order to get back on their feet.
Toma was able to give me an insight into the homeless community of Preston, informing me of how much they do for people who are struggling in the community. Alongside this, figures that The Foxton Centre have gathered indicate a stark contrast between them and that of the police. They estimate that, in 2015, 1,964 people who attended the centre were rough sleeping at the time. You can see the massive difference between the police estimates and that of the centre. Whilst both are likely estimates even if the figure is midpoint between these two figures there’s a big issue.
This apparent rise in homelessness comes at a far from ideal time for the council. Having recently announced massive cuts to its budget it is very unlikely that there will be money left over to help those in need of it who are living on the streets. As a result of this, the onus gets put onto these homeless shelters and centres. They’re the only ones who are willing to help or who can help those in need.
A recent twitter poll I conducted indicated that my followers feel that the council should be doing more to help the homeless in the area as opposed to charities such as The Foxton Centre.
Other twitter users have taken to the platform to express their views on the number of homeless in Preston:
It is clear to see that this is causing issues to the image of Preston and the experience of being in the city.
Toma also shared with me this message she had to anyone who is sleeping rough or in need of any help:
By providing this platform for the homeless The Foxton Centre is having a real impact, offering shelter and job opportunities for these rough sleepers can really start to make a difference to the number of people sleeping on the streets. However the fact of the matter is that it shouldn’t be down to these charities and help centres to be doing all the work. The council needs to start taking some responsibility for its citizens living on the streets.
For more information about The Foxton Centre please visit here.