When will we get passed the disgrace that in the 21st century, the UK continues Victorian notions of deserving and undeserving poor?
Firstly, it is an fundamentally unacceptable that mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters are left sleeping outside in abject poverty and despair.
Secondly, it is ghastly that those same down trodden folks are at risk of criminal prosecution simply for being who they are and sleeping where they do.
The only option, is housing first. When weighed against the cost of policing, incarceration, A&E, b&b’s - housing for homeless people is the cheapest option.
"𝗣𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀."
We're disappointed that Wednesday's #KingsSpeech didn't specifically mention the scrapping of the Vagrancy Act, an outdated law that still criminalises homelessness.
After 200 years, it's time for change.
Before the speech, we wrote to the government alongside Crisis and 28 other homeless organisations asking to repeal the Act - and our resolve has not changed.
#ScrapTheAct #RoughSleeping #HomelessnessAwareness #StreetHomeless
Associate Vice President Strategic and External Relations, Niagara Falls Workforce Development Consortium
1moKeep up the great work!