More and more people are sleeping rough in Lewisham and Greenwich and more than previously have unmet needs as a result of mental health problems.
Between January and March 2023:
- 178 people were seen sleeping rough in Lewisham and Greenwich, an increase of nearly 60% since last year.
- 100 people with mental health problems were seen sleeping rough in Lewisham and Greenwich, an increase of nearly 75% since last year.
- Nearly 2/3rds of people sleeping rough in Lewisham and Greenwich were assessed as having mental health problems, an increase of 8% in a year.
Taken together, these are worrying numbers which are part of a trend which needs to be reversed and which, sadly, shows very few signs of being reversed. In fact, without a change of course, things look likely to get worse.
We believe this trend can and should be reversed.
People with mental health problems can be supported to stay in their homes and to not experience homelessness, if the right support is in place.
This cannot just be the responsibility of mental health services. If we leave it to these services, we will fail. We need services such as housing, benefits, employment, immigration and health, to understand how best to work with people experiencing different mental health problems.
And for those people with mental health problems who do sleep rough, we need specialist mental health services which understand how best to work with people experiencing homelessness.
To support this, we have launched our new Campaign, Breaking Barriers, where our goal is to work with the relevant local health care providers, local authorities, and relevant partners to agree and implement innovative models of care.
The first stage is our petition to Government urging them to invest in local mental health services for those experiencing homelessness. To help us achieve this, we would be incredibly grateful if you could sign our petition by clicking the button below.
Thank you.
Unite for change. Sign the petition. Transform lives.