So, the night before last whilst out walking my dog, I found a guy sleeping in the gardens behind my tower block. Last night he came back. After an internet search I found details for No Second Night Out (NSNO) who claim that they:
focus on helping those who find themselves rough sleeping on the streets of London for the first time. We will ensure there is a rapid response to new rough sleepers, and will provide an offer that means they do not have to sleep out for a second night...
Elsewhere on the site , we are informed that:
Homelessness charity Broadway has won the £5 million two-year contract to take on the mayor of London’s no second night out project from June this year. Howard Sinclair, chief executive of Broadway, said: ‘We are committed to ending rough sleeping in the capital and by working in partnership on this tender – and by expanding the service to south London – we are confident that the great strides we have already made to ease homelessness problems in London will continue.’
So, is this expensive scheme involving Mayor Boris and a homeless NGO a good thing, or is it is just more spin which sees the Tories handing out cashpayers money, with little positive result to be gained? And yes, of course the question is rhetorical......
failing to live up to their own name?
I phoned the 24/7 number on the NSNO site, and after being informed I was being put through, got a second message saying that due to them experiencing a high level of calls they could not get to the phone, encouraging me to report the homeless person on a website or to leave my name and number and they'd get back to me. I left my details, and an hour later I received a call back. I gave the details of the operson and his exact location, only to be told that someone would respond "within 72 hours". I pointed out that this meant 'No Second Night Out' was already failing to live up its name - he replied that they were very busy and staffed exclusively by volunteers (not true as there are paid vacancies advertised on the site). He said he would refer the report to the appropriate team and someone would get back to me when they had picked the person up. I asked if he could ring me back to let me know when that might be, and he said he was unable to.
I then took a tent down to the guy, and lent it to him, having already discussed the referral with him. This morning he rang my buzzer at about 10am, having slept out all night with no sign of anyone from NSNO.
So, it looks like a third night out for this fella, and possible a fourth. Boris and Broadway crow about this scheme, but it is failing to deliver and cannot even live up to the name they gave it. And with street homelessness on the rise, things can only get worse.
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