Tramp asked you for cash?
Chances are, they're not homeless. In London, with its population of 7.5 million people there are less than 150 people who are street homeless.

Don't believe me? Check the statistics for yourself:
www.communities.gov.uk/housing/homelessness/publicationsabouthomelessness/roughsleepingstatistics/

If you ever find yourself homeless the help that is available for you is simply staggering. This is my step-by-step guide to getting yourself back on your feet.

1. Contact Shelter (0808 800 4444) who will give you a list of hostels and homeless shelters.

2. Find a walk-in hostel. A lot of these (for example St. Mungos) offer a lot more than accommodation. Addicted to drugs or alcohol? The hostel can refer you to addictions services and from there you can find yourself in a 6 month residential rehab placement within a year. Mentally ill? The hostel can refer you to a community mental health team.

3. From the hostel, you should approach the housing association. Sadly, these bureaucratic fuckwits may not give a shit about your plight. However, should you make an impression you could expect to be housed within a month. Seriously, it can be that quick.

4. Whatever the outcome of the housing association meeting, register with a GP. Again, they can link you in with mental health or addiction services should you need it. More importantly, some GPs have benefits advisors who will visit the surgery to sort your finances out and help you to start looking for a job.

5. Should you find yourself in hospital, bizarrely you've struck gold. We cannot discharge you if you're homeless and the NHS will put massive pressure on the housing association to find you somewhere to live. If you have a mental illness, we will put you up in a bed & breakfast at taxpayer's expense until a home becomes available.

6. Homeless through violence? Find yourself a refuge at www.refuge.org.uk where you are guaranteed to be safe. The refuge staff will not give out your details to anybody, not even doctors.

With all of this help available there is no excuse at all to be out on the street begging for cash. I have been approached by beggars for whom I have personally sorted out accommodation, benefits, free travel and help set up job interviews. I know that they have a roof over their head because I've seen it for myself and this sort of behaviour, frankly, pisses me off.

Give help not change to beggars.

***EDIT - My maths is shocking and yes there are more than 150 people sleeping rough in London. But not much more. It's still a startling statistic.***
( blindmelon, Mon 6 Jul 2009, 23:32, 5 replies)

I like this post very much
When I was homeless, I was sent into a hostel. This one went in stages:

1) Stage 1 was where you landed. In it, you paid £12 a week, if you were on benefits, for 3 meals a day, bedding washed and somebody on site for counselling. If you were on drugs, you were immediately signed up for drugs support. Problem with this is you would go into the loos and find needles, also there was a murder when I was there, and so much violence. Visitors were allowed between 9 and 5.

2) Stage 2 was where you shared a flat (on site) with 5 other people. There were 2 toilets, one shower room, and in your room was a fridge and somewhere to plug in a kettle and your telly and stuff. In this stage, they looked into work training, education and life skills, such as a weekly cookery class held in your flat. Visitors allowed between 9 and 8. I was quickly moved into here, after 2 weeks.

3) If you had gone through stage 2 and deemed 'able to fit into society', then you were given your own flat on site. There were about 12 flats on site, and you had everything you needed. When in here, you were encouraged to get stuff like a TV, a kettle, and other things you may need. You would also be bumped up the housing list to get a place off-site. You could have visitors whenever you wanted, and a seperate entrance. You also got a furniture grant, so you could decorate your new home.

I never got to this stage as I moved down south, but I have a few friends in there. One of them was helped to get a government grant to start up his gardening business. They paid for a van and tools for him.
( Methylene Blue - electrohead, Tue 7 Jul 2009, 0:34, closed)

According to CHAIN
... 483 people were sleeping rough in London in 2008:

tinyurl.com/ktg29l

An brief explanation of CHAIN: "CHAIN is the Combined Homeless and Information Network. It is a database for people who work with rough sleepers and the street population in London. The system is used to help workers share information to ensure that they act as quickly and effectively as possible to help those they encounter. Reports based on information held in CHAIN help decision-makers monitor the needs of rough sleepers in London".

Not all rough sleepers want to go into hostels - they have often had bad experiences in them (violence particularly) or are alcohol dependent and sober but cannot get a place in a "dry" hostel.
( lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Tue 7 Jul 2009, 8:27, closed)

Excellent information.
Thanks for sharing :)
(caescarna Hell's Roomba, Tue 7 Jul 2009, 8:37, closed)

You might be interested in...
my post here: www.b3ta.com/questions/tramps/post471722
( lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Tue 7 Jul 2009, 8:39, closed)

Hi Battered
I read your post about your work with crisis and I was really impressed. I wasn't implying in my entry that street sleepers were on the streets through choice or laziness. Rather, I was trying to emphasise what great services there are out there, such as crisis.

I believe that you have supported my argument, both through your qotw answer and by pointing out that there are fewer than 500 people sleeping rough in a city that has a population of 7.5 million.
( blindmelon, Tue 7 Jul 2009, 10:03, closed)