On Friday 3rd March Ross and Glen from Emmaus Lambeth, joined 23 other volunteers and Outreach workers from Westminster CAS – The Connection at St Martin in the Fields, to take part in the quarterly homeless street count.
This involved visiting every street within the Borough of Westminster, in teams of 2, between the hours of midnight and 2 am, recording everyone that was seen rough sleeping at that time.
Westminster is a very busy area in the daytime and sometimes as busy in the night.
Amongst the many people heading home and going to work we saw the sight of rough sleepers trying to get some rest in the noisy and cold morning.
At least it was dry that night.
We saw people wrapped up in cardboard boxes and hidden in the setback doorways of some of London’s richest shopping venues.
Seeing someone trying to find a few hours’ sleep next to a shop where watches and jewelry were each worth over £50,000 shows the disparity of modern life.
Thank you to Westminster CAS for allowing us to take part.