Help Us Have a Christmas Presence

Thousands of people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic risk losing their home after the withdrawal of the £20 universal credit increase and the furlough scheme. People drawn into rough sleeping is 0.94% in England compared to Scotland (0.55%) and Wales (0.66%). In Brighton it is above 1%. Official rough sleeping figures are often underestimated as they rely on single-night counts and rough estimates by local authorities. As many as 60% of single homeless people do not show up on official figures at all, as they are not on Council housing waiting lists. This is especially true of Brighton & Hove.

The average life expectancy of a homeless person in Brighton & Hove is 45 for men and 43 for women. Around 12-15 people die on the streets of Brighton and Hove every year from hunger and the cold. In fact, it is economically beneficial to stop people becoming homeless or to get them housed as quickly as possible. Research has shown that in 2015 the cost of a single person sleeping rough in the UK for 12 months was £20,128 compared to an intervention cost of £1,426. To put this in context, the average private school place in Britain costs £11,565 per year.

Illness, food deprivation, extreme weather conditions and different forms of addiction contribute to homelessness. However, one of the underpinning causes is a sense of low self-worth and often defeatism. With 25 years experience of combating social inequality, we are often the last bulwark in a downward spiral.

Who was it who said that hell is the absence of hope?

Our mission is to restore hope. After coming through Covid more focused and stronger than before, we are now planning for when the expected return to rough sleeping happens. The emergency aid provided by the Government is finite and other priorities are already jostling for the Chancellors attention.

We believe that it is time to take our mission a stage further to create support packages that will enable us to move the newly homeless forward rather than creating holding circles for them. Nearly all the infrastructure is already in place.

We have the premises, we have the monitoring systems, the health and safety and safeguarding policies in place and a talented, qualified team to oversee the progress of our fast growing list of clients.

We already have weekly sessions for rough sleepers facilitated by our links with local law firms, NHS teams, Council Housing Department staff, doctors, dentists, hairdressers, counsellors and a range of trained volunteers. Antifreeze's empowerment strategy is designed to change the lives of those who have struggled with life-destroying addictions, mental health issues, job loss and bereavement, which have led to rough sleeping. We help to restore their self-worth, confidence, independence and address financial issues.

In the very challenging year of 2020-21our services were used by 388 individuals with 1,264 individual meetings. Our outreach provides us with the opportunity to carry out on the spot welfare checks and access immediate help where needed. This includes signposting to other support services using the Covid Storm Street Sheet. We are able to facilitate access to SWEP, the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol when external conditions mean enhanced risk to life for those rough sleeping. Our street outreach teams also connect clients to our Phone Call Support, which allows us to provide private, more in-depth assistance to clients in areas such as housing, claiming benefits, finding employment and accessing health and dental care.

With homeless numbers expected to increase by 33% after the end of 'Everyone In' Government support via local councils, this is an avalanche of poverty waiting to fall.

Off The Fence is working to prevent hundreds of people no different to you and me from falling into homelessness in the months ahead. This is the challenge. Do we stop trying to find more caring, safe spaces for our women clients? Do we re-consider our support for teachers and pupils in challenging times like these? Do we avert our gaze when we see a rough sleeper?

We hope that you agree with us that the answer should be no.

Your support this Christmas could make the difference between hopelessness and hope for those who have slipped off the social radar.

Please help in whatever way you can. It could be your child. One day, it could even be you.

Thank you and God bless

Paul and Wendy Young

Co-Founders Off The Fence Trust