On Wednesday 8th February Ross Watkins, the Acting Director for Emmaus SLC, was given the brilliant opportunity to attend the 10-year anniversary of StreetLink becoming active in England and Wales, hosted at the House of Lords.
Starting in 2012, StreetLink is a non-profit organisation managed and delivered by Homeless Link in partnership with St Mungo’s. Its purpose is to give members of the public the ability to assist any person who they saw rough sleeping. StreetLink can be accessed via a website, mobile app or phone line and when contacting StreetLink they will request essential details such as the physical description of the person they saw rough sleeping, as well as their last known location and the time they were spotted; they will then get in touch with local services who will then provide further assistance. This is often the first step and most important towards moving someone moving away from homelessness.
The concept of StreetLink was conceived when it became apparent that many members of the public were unsure of how to adequately provide help for those who they saw rough sleeping. Since its conception 10 years ago StreetLink has made great progress with over 500,000 alerts raised, and over 90,000 people being successfully helped to move away from rough sleeping.
The event began at 3 pm and was afternoon tea hosted by the Lord Best (Independent) with speeches from Rick Henderson (CEO of Homeless Link), Tom Copley (Deputy Mayor of London, Terry Kirby (P3 Peer Mentor) and MP Felicity Buchan (Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness).
All speakers heavily praised StreetLink for allowing people to find support where they did not know where to turn before. Felicity Buchan MP noted how in its time in operation, “it has grown to become an essential part of the current Rough Sleeper Strategy to end homelessness”. This came on top of her announcement of £2 billion being ringfenced for housing and homelessness. The Deputy Mayor of London confirmed the GLA’s continued support for the StreetLink and Terry Kirby further complimented StreetLink’s efficiency by stating “without StreetLink I would still be homeless”. Rick then closed the event with a presentation on StreetLink’s many successes over the last 10 years.
If you are concerned about someone sleeping rough, contact StreetLink to help them the support they need. Website: www.streetlink.org.uk