2020 The year for Big Difference

Sanjay Mall has been nominated for the Police and Crime Commissioner Volunteer of the year in the South for his work with the homeless in Southampton. Sanjay has worked with the Big Breakfast at Above Bar Church for 12 years and this year set up the Big Difference to provide meals for the homeless. The […]

Outside The Box – dealing with death

Those supporting and working with people who are rough sleeping are well aware that their life expectancy is dramatically reduced by their experience and the issues that they face (for figures see footnote). Consequently this brings the subject of death more to the fore and highlights the lack of openness to talk about death in […]

Winter Update -Southampton

Throughout the Covid pandemic the council and its partners have provided extra support and access to emergency accommodation to people who have been found rough sleeping in the city. This continues to be the case but as winter progresses it is even more important that we do all we can to help. We’ve put together […]

Relaunch of the Churches Rent Deposit Scheme

World Homeless Day 10 October 2020 A fund to support people at risk of homelessness has been relaunched on the 10th anniversary of World Homeless Day.  The aim of this global day is to draw attention to homeless people’s needs locally and provide opportunities for the community to get involved in responding to homelessness, while […]

Southampton September Conference – “No one comes off the streets due to the work of one agency”

Southampton Street Support Action Group held their sixth conference last week. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions this one was the first that was online. It was well attended by agencies, local government, the voluntary sector, councillors and our local MP’s. The conference gathered to hear reports of the work with those sleeping rough over the […]

Good news on the Radio

Paul Woodman, chair of the Street Support Action Group was interviewed on Radio Solent on the day of the recent conference in Southampton (10 Sept) to outline the collaborative working taking place in the city.  Paul spoke about how the change of government policy called “Everyone in” has given new opportunities to some people that […]

Covid-19 provides move on success

When the lockdown for Covid-19 started there was much concern over the situation of the street homeless. The government made a request to local authorities to “get everyone in” and offered funding for this. In Southampton, the City Council worked closely with the partner organisations forming the charter and has had great success not only […]

Feeding those on the street under lockdown

Under the current lockdown restrictions many of the charities that provide meals and food for the homeless have been required to close services as the only way to comply with the social distancing regulations. This has meant that for the homeless who are choosing to stay on the streets, the usual sources of their meals […]