‘It’s a crying shame’ – Record numbers rough sleeping in Glasgow
Nearly a thousand people have slept rough on Glasgow’s streets over the past year.
Nine hundred twenty-nine people have been reported to be sleeping on the streets, and as temperatures drop, there are increased concerns about the city’s growing homeless population.
There’s also been a sharp increase in the number of those living in temporary accommodation to over 8,000, which includes over 3,000 children.
Helen McMillan, founder of Help the Homeless Glasgow said: “The B&Bs don’t have much support, the staff aren’t trained in mental health or addiction, they’re not trained for trauma informed care for these people in need.
“They’re just there to give people rooms and whatever else.
“They can’t manage conflict or challenging behaviour, so those kinds of people get papped out.”
There’s calls for increased funding from the Scottish Government with an emphasis on increasing social housing.
Shelter Scotland Director Alison Watson said: “These figures are alarming, but unfortunately not surprising. The reality of Scotland’s housing emergency is that more and more people are living in miserable conditions, having their housing rights ignored and becoming trapped in a broken homelessness system.
“This is unacceptable, and yet it continues every day.
“The situation in Glasgow has continued to deteriorate since it declared a housing emergency last year without more social homes, that trend will inevitably continue.
“It’s clear there’s work to be done at every level of government to address the housing emergency, but local authorities can’t be expected to pick up the pieces on their own.
“The Scottish Government must use the upcoming budget to give failing local homelessness services the funding they need to deliver and invest in the social homes Scotland so desperately needs.”
The Wayside Club was established in 1932 to meet the needs of the homeless and those suffering from hardship, addiction to alcohol or gambling.
Tony Hanlon is a long-term volunteer at the club on Oxford Street where they feed up to 130 people a night, as well as providing them with showers and clothes.
Tony talked warmly about his night helping at the club, he said: “They get soup, sandwiches and a game of bingo – if they’re good they get a wee bit of sweetness, a wee Mars bar or something.
“We also provide a shower service, and we’ve got a food bank that you don’t need to be referred to, you can just come in and ask where people can get bits and pieces.”
You can hear more from Tony and find out more in the video below:
Donald is a third year Multimedia Journalism student at Glasgow Caledonian University.
