HOMELESSNESS

See Also: FOOD Compliments of The House; HOUSING; MENTAL HEALTH Revolving Door Patients; PRACTICAL ALTRUISM; SOCIAL WELFARE

At the start of 2011 about 1200-1300 people were sleeping on London's streets each night. The level had been rising over the previous three years.

Barka Foundation

Barka Foundation is a homelessness organisation for Polish people.

Website: https://barkafoundation.org

The Big Issue

Prior to The Big Issue's launch there were several numerous homelessness charities operating in London. However, none of them furnished homeless people with a means of generating a legitimate income. As a result, homeless people with substance abuse issues often acquired money by illegal means, thereby, tarnishing other homeless people.

Prior to the launch numerous homeless people had declared that they would sell the magazine. However, on the day only half-a-dozen showed up. The Roddicks high profile the media paid attention. The vendors had to have their appearance altered by means such as switching jackets and removing or putting on hats in order to create a range of imagery for the press photographers. A couple of the vendors used the money to buy alcohol. They became increasingly drunk. At the end of the day they made their way back to Lincoln's Inn Fields, where they were rough sleeping. They were asked how they had acquired the cash to enable them to become so intoxicated. They replied that it had been through selling The Big Issue. From this incident homeless people in central London appreciated that selling the magazine could provide them with an income. Through social interaction with purchasers, the vendors came to appreciate that they were not outcasts. As a result, most of them stopped selling the publication while under the influence of drink or drugs.

During the early days, the inner circle involved in the publication drank alcohol freely. There was an occasion when Gordon Roddick declared that he was of the opinion that John Bird did not know what he was doing but that he would achieve what he was trying to do.

Location: Lincoln's Inn Fields, WC2A 3PH. There was open access at the time. Subsequently, it was enclosed by railings and gates. (red, yellow)

Brigade Bar + Kitchen

Brigade Bar + Kitchen helps homeless people to train to become chefs.

Location: 139 Tooley Street, SE1 2HZ

Website: https://thebrigade.co.uk

Centrepoint

Centrepoint provides temporary overnight accommodation for young homeless people. The organisation was founded in 1969 by the Rev Ken Leech (1939-2015), the Vicar of St Anne's Soho. He was moved to do so by witnessing homeless people in the West End. He named the organisation after a towerblock that stands on Soho's north-eastern corner. It had become notorious because its developer had kept it empty on purpose. The organisation opened its first shelter in the church's crypt of St Anne's Soho. It has expanded into a series of hostels, flats, and bed-sits that aid the homeless young.

Twenty former hospital beds were placed in the church's basement. On the first night no one came. Soon it was busy. The charity provided hot food and counselling.

Location: 25 Berwick Street, W1F 8RF. (Referral address) (red, white)

See Also: WEST END CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHURCHES St Anne Soho

Website: www.centrepoint.org.uk

Crash

Crash - Construction Industry Relief & Assistance for The Single Homeless - is a charity that utilises the generosity of the construction and property industries to furnish temporary accommodation for rough sleepers during the winter. The charity was founded in 1991 by Tony Devison (1923-2012), who had spent most of his working life an executive in the building components industry.

Location: The Gatehouse, 2 Devonhurst Place, W4 4JD

Website: www.crash.org.uk

Crisis

Crisis provides homeless people with temporary accommodation over the Christmas period. While doing so, it furnishes them with a range of services to do with their health, skills, employment, etc.. The organisation was founded in 1967 by William Shearman and Ian MacLeod as a response to Ken Loach's television docudrama Cathy Come Home. The name was coined by Eve MacLeod. The first Crisis Open Christmas was organised in 1971.

Location: 66 Commercial Street, E1 6LT (red, yellow)

See Also: CHRISTMAS

Website: www.crisis.org.uk

Sir Anthony de Hoghton

Sir Anthony de Hoghton was born into an old Roman Catholic Lancashire landowning family.¹ During his youth, the baronet moved in fashionable circles and became a published poet. He ended up living on the streets around Sloane Square as a beggar.

Location: Sloane Square, SW1W 8EL (purple, yellow)

¹. In the post-Reformation and pre-railway era, Lancashire was the county with the highest proportion of Roman Catholic gentry. In part, this was because of its physical remoteness from London. Usually, both Cornwall and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne could be reached much more quickly by sea than it could be by land.

The Foyer Federation

Foyers provide places for homeless young people to live. The Federation was founded in 1992.

In 2022 there were 55 foyers in the Federation.

Location: 7-14 Dover Street, SE1 4YR

Website: https://foyer.net

Homeless Link

Homeless Link is an umbrella body for organisations that address homelessness. It campaigns for policy changes to end the phenomenon.

Location: Minories House, 2-5 Minories, EC3N 1BJ

Website: www.homeless.org.uk

The House of St Barnabas-in-Soho

St Barnabas seeks to break the cycle of homelessness. The organisation trains people to enter the hospitality industry. It was founded in 1846. Fifteen years later it bought No. 1 Greek Street, which is one of the finest examples of 1750s English rococo townhouse.¹

In 2005 the prevailing regulatory regime compelled the House of St Barnabas to close its hostel. It responded by setting up an academy that furnishes homeless people with training so that they can enter the hospitality industry. A private members club was set up that uses the building. Within it, most of the services are provided by the trainees.

Location: 1 Greek Street, W1D 4NQ. (Its chapel can be seen on the northern side of Manette Street.)

See Also: PERIOD PROPERTIES Period Houses; SOHO Soho Square

Website: https://hosb.org.uk

¹. No. 1 Greek Street was built to be the home of Alderman Richard Beckford.

George Price

John Maynard Smith & George Price - Hawks Doves Games shows why mixed strategy of aggression and display. Influenced evolutionary theory and economics e.g. auctions.

Dennis Rough

In Britain Tony Benn is famous for having been a Labour M.P. who, during the course of his Parliamentary career, drifted leftward.¹ He was born into very comfortable circumstances, married into some more, and settled in a West London street that is noted for its affluence. In 1985 a tramp named Dennis Rough moved into a storage space where the Benn family kept their rubbish bins. The story was picked up by the media and ran for several days. Mr Rough's brother recognised him from television pictures and whisked him away.

Location: 12 Holland Park Avenue, W11 4UX (purple, red)

See Also: TEA Tony Benn

¹. The usual pattern in British politics is for Labour M.P.s to drift from the left to the right as they mature or experience the reality of government.

Rowton Houses

The Rowton Houses provided beds for homeless people. The organisation was founded by Lord Rowton, who had been the private secretary of the Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. In 1890 Rowton was involved in the setting up of the Guinness Trust housing organisation. He came to the opinion that there was a need for working men's hostels. In 1892 the first Rowton House opened in Vauxhall. In 1905 Arlington House in Camden Town started taking in people.

Location: Arlington House, 220 Arlington Road, NW1 7HT¹ (orange, purple)

Tower House, 81 Fieldgate Street, E1 1JU (blue, brown)

Website: www.workhouses.org.uk/Rowton

¹. In taxi slang an upmarket hotel is referred to as a Rowton House .

St Martin's-in-the-Fields

The Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields holds an annual service to commemorate the homeless people who have died during the previous year. It includes a rendition of Gavin Bryars's Jesus Blood Never Failed Me (1971).

Location: 6 St Martin's Place, WC2N 4JH (red, turquoise)

See Also: WEST END CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHURCHES St Martin-in-the-Fields

Website: www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org

The Connection at St Martin's

The Connection at St Martin's works with rough sleepers.

Location: 12 Adelaide Street, WC2N 4HW (blue, turquoise)

Website: www.connection-at-stmartins.org.uk

No. 3 Riverside View

Jay Flynn was a Londoner who had moved away from the metropolis. He experienced poor mental health and his relationship with his fianc e collapsed. He returned to London. While he had a support network, his mental health deteriorated. He took to the streets. With time he settled on a bench on the Victoria Embankment as being his sleeping place. This was because he had positive childhood memories of it. In addition, it had the benefit of usually being relatively quiet during the night. He dubbed it No. 3 Riverside View. It was No. 3 because there was another bench to the south and the benches opposite were the even numbers.

Jay sought to leave his bench by about 7 a.m.. This was because as a Londoner he had pride in the city and did not wish it to be blighted further for others by the sight of a homeless. He would fill his days by wandering about London, developing four preferred routes. By keeping a close eye on the ground, he proved to highly adept at finding money on pavement and in gutters. As a result, he never begged. Another positive memory from childhood had been attending airshows with members of his family. He realised that Eastbourne Airshow was coming up. It took him four days to walk to the Sussex town, where he attended the event.

After about Jay returned to his bench one evening to discover that a note had been left for him by The Connection at St Martin's, a homessness charity. It stated that if he wished to be helped off the streets, it could probably do so. At first, he was not inclined to take up the offer. However, he changed his mind but adopted an attitude of not believing in any assertions until they had been fulfilled. He moved into roofed accommodation. For the first three nights he slept on the floor rather than the bed that was by it. When he did start sleeping on the bed, he did so in the sleeping bag he had used while homeless. The pledges he had been given by the charity were met and he re-entered mainstream society.

Jay moved to Lancashire, where he became the manager of a quiet pub. In order to try to encourage more people to use the establishment, he started hosting regular pub quizzes. He would set the questions. However, ultimately the business was not viable. Then the Covid pandemic occurred. Lockdown One started. As a means of giving both himself a way of filling some time and his friends and family a regular activity, he started hosting a weekly quiz night over social media. However, he forgot to adjust his privacy settings. As a result, the event became available to anyone who had access to the platforms. It went viral, attracting hundreds of thousands of participants. The numbers may have even passed a million people. In 2020 he was awarded an M.B.E. in the Birthday Honours List.

Location: Victoria Embankment, SW1A 2JL (red, brown)

See Also: THE INTERNET

St Mungo Community Housing Association

St Mungo's was founded in 1969

In 2014 St Mungo's merged with two other homelessness charities to form St Mungo s Broadway.

St Mungo's accepts pets in its hostels.

Location: St Mungo's Broadway, 115-119 Gray's Inn Road, WC1X 8TQ

St Mungo's, 189 Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4TJ

3 Thomas More Square, E1W 1YW. The head office.

Website: www.mungos.org

Shelter

The Rev Bruce Kenrick, a Presbyterian clergyman, founded The Notting Hill Housing Trust in 1963. Subsequently, Sir Milner Holland's report on housing moved public opinion strongly in favour of organisations such as the organisation. However, its board was unwilling to endorse the cleric's wish to take the organisation national.

In late 1966 the B.B.C. broadcast Cathy Come Home, Ken Loach's television docudrama about homelessness. There was a public outcry. Using St Martin-in-the-Fields as a base, Kenrick founded Shelter as an organisation that was separate from the Trust.

Kenrick resisted a move to appoint the researcher Des Wilson as Shelter s director. The organisation underwent a six-month-long period of strife that ended with the cleric severing his association with it.

Location: 88 Old Street, EC1V 9HU (orange, grey)

See Also: CHRISTMAS Crisis; HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS Notting Hill Genesis; MENTAL HEALTH Samaritans

Website: www.shelter.org.uk

Miss Shepherd

Miss Shepherd (n e Margaret Fairchild) (1911-1989) lived in a vehicle that was parked outside the Camden Town home of the playwright and screenwriter Alan Bennett.

Substance Abuse and Homelessness Literature

The singer Marianne Faithfull endured a period of life during which she was a drug addict living upon the streets of Soho.

Mark Johnson became a heroin addict. In 1999 he spent a year being homeless in London. He recovered and set up a tree surgery business that employed other people who had been through similar experiences. He became the first ex-offender to sit on the board of the National Probation Service.

For many years Chris Kitch was a junkie bagwoman who lived on the streets around Piccadilly Circus. Her biography recounts how she became destitute and how she rehabilitated herself, going on to become a postgraduate student.

Location: Piccadilly Circus, W1J 7BX (purple, brown)

Thames Reach

In 2017 the homelessness charity Thames Reach stated that there were just over 8100 rough sleepers in London.

Location: 29 Peckham Road, Camberwell, SE5 8UA

Website: https://thamesreach.org.uk

David Backhouse 2024