The borough has one of the best records on reducing rough sleeping.
Residents in Hammersmith and Fulham are being encouraged use a ‘good deed’ mobile app to help rough sleepers off the street as Christmas approaches.
StreetLink, run jointly by the London charity Broadway and Homeless Link, is a website, telephone line and smartphone app through which the public are able to refer rough sleepers to their local authority.
The service, which started in December 2012, has attracted nearly 11,000 alerts in the first 12 months, with over 4,000 of those being found and connected to local services.
StreetLink offers the public a means to act when they see someone sleeping rough and is the first step someone can take to ensure rough sleepers are connected to the local services and support available to them.
The person reporting the problem receives details of the action the local authority normally takes when they are told someone is sleeping rough.
Councils refer rough sleepers to a 24 hour assessment hub which assesses their needs and provides them with the support they need to get off the streets.
Latest figures from H&F show that 81% of people did not spend a second night rough-sleeping, compared to 74% across the rest of London.
Cllr Andrew Johnson, H&F Council Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “By working proactively with other agencies and residents, H&F has one of the best records on reducing rough sleeping in London.
“No-nonsense measures, such as the borough-wide booze ban, combined with early intervention initiatives – such as StreetLink and No Second Night Out – mean we are able to get rough sleepers back on the straight and narrow quicker than many boroughs.”
To find out more about Street Link, or to report a rough sleeper, visit
www.streetlink.org.uk or call 0300 500 0914 or Tweet @Tell_StreetLink.
Photo courtesy of Deadly Sirius, with thanks.
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