Homelessness: we all know it exists. We know that tens of thousands of good, valuable people sleep on the streets every night, often with no food, no blanket and no items that seem essential to us living life with a warm, comfy house to come to at the end of every day. But why aren’t we always hearing about the struggles these people face in the mainstream media? Why are they any less worth hearing about than the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, or the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester over the last year. My theory is, we, as a society, crave drama. We crave hearing about events that seem unbelievable, that are a good story to tell. But why, in the media’s mind, is homelessness, not a dramatic and interesting story to cover? As of autumn 2016, there were an estimated 4,134 people a night sleeping rough. This seems like a relatively small number for a country which is home to 64 million, but for those 4,134 it’s a very real, traumatising and horrific experience.

So what is the government doing about this? The labour party has pledged to create over 4000 new homes for people who are or have, a history of sleeping rough within its first term of government. The Green Party say they would give local authorities the same priorities to single people and childless couples as they do to families, while UKIP doesn't have a specific policy on homelessness, but say they will take measures to address homelessness among veterans. The Conservative party, which is the most important, since they hold the power to take action, pledge to half rough sleeping over the course of the next parliament and to eliminate it by 2027 by establishing a homelessness reduction task-force. So that’s another 10 years some will still be living on the streets. It is extremely disappointing.

Maybe one of the problems that have led to the partial ignorance of the homelessness situation is the stereotypes which have been created. One of the most prevalent, which I personally have heard over and over again from family and friends is, “If you give them money, they’ll probably use it to buy drugs.” It is believed that roughly 38% of the homeless abuse alcohol while only 26% use other drugs. That means 36% are paying the price for stereotypes that we’ve created and it isn’t fair. Of course, you don’t want to feed someone’s drug or alcohol addiction, but how are we to know who is using drugs and who isn’t? Furthermore, who are we to get to decide and control where homeless people spend their money? If you’re giving one or two pounds to these people, it’s not your business to be worried about where the disadvantaged are spending their money.

Connected to alcohol and drug abuse, it’s important to think about the mental health of people living on the streets. We know that in some cases, homeless people are war veterans, and statistics show that over 45% of veterans have some sort of mental illness ( commonly post-traumatic stress disorder). Overall, in a study, 80% of homeless people reported that they have some form of mental illness. Almost none of them are getting help. NHS Mental health services are already stretched to the limit, with waiting lists running for months and even years. So, of course, they aren’t going to take on any more than they find absolutely necessary. Arguably, we need separate mental health services for those on the streets, who may be suffering the worst. Declining mental health can take a huge toll on someone’s life. We need to pay attention to this.

As this article draws to a close, I want to inform you of a couple ways you can help out, if you feel that giving a couple pounds to a homeless person when you see them suffering on the streets isn’t enough. A charity called Crisis is focusing on the rehabilitation of homeless people. A quote from their website reads, "We support people out of homelessness for good. We do this through education, training and support with housing, employment and health. We offer one to one support, advice and courses for homeless people in 12 areas across England, Scotland and Wales."

Ways to get involved in this charity, include fundraising, campaigning, donating and volunteering. Alternatively, if you want to do something more personal, you can prepare care bags that include things like clothes, hygiene products, blankets, restaurant gift cards and food.

Take action, small acts of kindness are so valuable to people who have nothing.

Ava. J