Star comment: Vulnerable need to be supported
In an echo of the Biblical story, there will be people in Shropshire who have nowhere to stay this Christmas.
As children hang up their stockings, and on Christmas night while folk digest the turkey and savour the wine, unfortunates will be bedding down to spend another night in the cold.
It should be an affront to a civilised society that this is happening, and this time of year should be the spur to make special efforts to help them.
According to an MPs’ report there is a national homelessness crisis in England and the Government’s approach has been an abject failure.
It is a problem which is hidden to those of us who take it for granted that we shall have somewhere to sleep at night, as the majority who enjoy such stable circumstances rarely, if ever, come across rough sleeping directly. They are tucked up warm in bed while the homeless are sleeping rough in doorways, on benches, in cars, or at whatever other vantage point they can grab.
Locally, let us pay tribute to those volunteers and charities who are in this particular front line and do excellent work. They will know the scale of the homelessness problem better than anyone and have important insights and ideas in trying to tackle it effectively.
The cross-party report by MPs is unconvinced by the Government’s commitment to eliminate rough sleeping by 2027 and says there is an unacceptable shortage of realistic housing options for the homeless, or those at risk of becoming homeless.
The backdrop to the crisis is that councils have many demands on their money and this is another expense which is difficult to meet with squeezed budgets.
How many people are sleeping rough in Shropshire? Numbers will no doubt be dynamic and fluid, and there have been censuses, such as the “Care to Count” initiative in Telford area.
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In Shrewsbury, there are said to be six recognised rough sleepers, which may not sound that much but according to Lord John Bird, founder of The Big Issue, the number we see sleeping rough is the mere tip of the iceberg.
They are not statistics, but people, all with their own stories and the reasons for their homelessness will be wide and varied, meaning there is not going to be a single answer.
Finding a safe place for people to sleep does not solve all the underlying issues which led to the homelessness in the first place. The vulnerable need to be supported, the impoverished need to be helped. It is, though, a good start.