Weekly News

Sleeping Rough For Christmas

It is undeniable that homelessness is a huge problem in the UK. It is also a problem that goes unnoticed as not only do people dismiss the homeless but many forms of homelessness are hidden such as sofa surfing.

A recent Channel 4 news story talked about the issues of sleeping rough in the winter months. It mentions how these months are a fight for survival for those sleeping rough in "sub-zero temperatures".

It is said in the article that there are an "estimated 4,134 people (an oddly specific estimate) now sleeping rough every night in England" a figure that has doubled since 2010.

However I don't think this article highlights the whole problem as although over 4000 people are sleeping rough these homelessness figures don't include the "hidden homeless" i.e those who are sofa surfing. It is estimated that there are 13 times more hidden homeless than those sleeping rough. Although it is clear that those who are sofa surfing at least have a roof over their head in these winter months it does not take away from the huge scale of England's homelessness problem.