As the winter period approaches and colder, longer nights are ahead, the number of homeless people in the UK has reached new heights.
Support schemes and initiatives around the country are striving to combat homelessness, through a variety of strategies and programmes, targeting those who are at risk of facing homelessness, individuals who are rough sleeping, and people who are experiencing unstable housing arrangements.
Throughout the Greater Manchester region, initiatives such as A Bed Every Night are aiming to provide shelter and accessible resources for individuals who are experiencing homelessness, and create an impact on Manchester’s homelessness rates, during the winter months.
A Bed Every Night (ABEN) is a region-wide scheme, across Greater Manchester, established with the intention of ensuring that no one who is rough sleeping, or is at immediate risk of homelessness is unable to access a bed for the night. Resources are available for users of the initiative, such as access to healthcare guidance, housing advice, and hot meal services. The Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity raises funds for this initiative and supports frontline services, to better assist those facing imminent homelessness.
For many people, homelessness can become a very sudden, and very shocking reality. Although there are widely preconceived notions surrounding homeless individuals, the demographic of people accessing schemes and initiatives such as ABEN are greatly varied.
In the most recent 2024 report, the Women’s Rough Sleeping Census found that 73% of women who responded to the census reported sleeping on the streets, and 365 women reported that they had been in homelessness accommodation, prior to rough sleeping.
Fran Darlington-Pollock, CEO of the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity said: “It’s a kind of misconception that street homelessness, for example, or rough sleeping is just something that happens to young men. Homelessness and rough sleeping can happen to anyone.”
The number of women who are experiencing rough sleeping and homelessness are not being met with the correct support, and Brooke Leigh Jones, the Housing Project Officer at Rochdale Borough Council said: “Our recent Women’s Rough Sleeping Census, just from the initial findings does highlight that there is an ongoing need for the ring-fence provision so that we can support women, and this is still a bit of an unmet need. It highlights that there’s a lot of diversity in areas that have not always been recognised as needing this kind of support.”
Being at risk of facing homelessness is not a reality that many people account for, throughout their everyday living, however, it can rapidly become a harsh existence for anyone, regardless of their status or profession.
Diane Wright, 42, is a single mother of two children, and a yoga instructor by profession. She described her experience of being at risk of facing homelessness, and the detrimental impacts it had on the wellbeing of her family.
“It was very stressful. It was a difficult situation, and it made our family life actually really stressful at the time. Our landlord issued a Section 21 [notice] and wanted us to leave on a very specific date.”
“I had worked really hard to try and find another property for us to move into, but [by] the date that she wanted us to leave, it was still unsure whether I could move to the next property by that date, and so I phoned our local council and we were advised not to leave the property that we were in and become homeless, because the councils don’t want more homeless people.”
“I have two children, I had two dogs at the time, and I feel that people don’t realise that homelessness can strike anybody in any demographic, at any age.”
Rough sleeping, and homelessness is a nation-wide challenge, and although support schemes are in place, a greater sense of awareness around this issue is needed, according to Niamh Foley, who is the Senior Policy and Project Support Officer of Homelessness, at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and she encourages that: “Homelessness needs to be seen as everyone’s business, not just the role of housing and homelessness teams, and local authorities.”
With the winter months drawing closer, and the nights becoming colder and darker, schemes and initiatives that aim to combat homelessness and rough sleeping, such as ABEN are preparing for an increase in users. Assistance for people experiencing homelessness is available through support networks across Greater Manchester, and online services such as streetlink.org.uk.