In April, I am running the London Landmarks Half Marathon to support Single Homeless Project, who work tirelessly to support those living rough in London. I feel strongly about supporting this charity because they are best placed to make impact at scale. They are aware that root causes must be tackled, and they advocate the UK Government on a number of these, whilst providing an array of support for individual’s physical health, mental health, accommodation, skills training and more. One cause I am particularly passionate about is the women’s services, given the sobering statistics that 85% of women in SHP's female hostels have experienced violence.

I would be very grateful for any donations to this cause. If you would like to donate and/or read more about the charity, please see below:

Charity Name: Single Homeless Project

Reg. Charity Number: 287779

Sponsoring a friend: Lucy Scott lucyascott@outlook.com

Special Instructions: Lucy Scott LLHM

How Single Homeless Project work:

• Prevention – Expert teams work hard to support people to stay in their own homes and move people from temporary accommodation into permanent housing.

• Rough sleeping - In the past decade, the number of people rough sleeping in London has surged, rising by around 20% year on year. Driven by the high cost of living and lack of social housing.

1. Provide secure and safe housing without pre-conditions.

2. Assess individuals needs and work with other services and organisations to address these – mental and physical health issues, to immigration, financial and legal help.

3. Emergency cold weather shelters in partnerships with local councils.

4. In 2023/24, SHP helped over 750 Londoners off the streets and into their crisis accommodation.

• Support services – Provide access to therapeutic support for those with mental health issues, developing work readiness skills, offering practical support and access to education, training, and job opportunities.

• Women services – Most of the women SHP support have lived through complex trauma – “85% of women in our female-only hostels have experienced different forms of violence, including abuse from partners or family members, sexual violence, or modern-day slavery.”. Their work focusses on wellbeing, building resilience and self-esteem, safety planning. SHP are also working to lobby the Government to tackle the systemic inequalities faced by homeless women.

• Physical health - The average age of death for someone sleeping rough is just 45 for men and 43 for women, compared to a national average of 79 for men and 83 for women. SHP Create clinical spaces within their hostels, improve access to healthcare, provide wraparound support (accompanying clients to appointments, making phone calls)