Looking for Change

The message below was sent on behalf of David Bonnett of The Bury Drop In and Davina Howes, Assistant Director for Families and Communities at West Suffolk Council.  The views expressed are not neccessarily those of anyone involved in this blog.

"You may remember that the Bury Drop In, supported by town centre partners including the Council, launched the Looking for Change alternative giving campaign in 2018. The campaign encourages people not to give money to people they see on the streets but to give to the charity which helps rough sleepers and other homeless people access help, support and housing and ultimately to rebuild their lives.

One of the key aims of the campaign is helping the public understand that sometimes giving money to people on the streets feeds addiction and that can be counter-productive hindering efforts to get them to engage in the support and accommodation available, or leading to them losing places of accommodation due to their resultant behaviour.

Equally we want to highlight to people that not everybody that they see out begging is a rough sleeper as sometimes they are already accommodated.

The campaign has run alongside the Council's efforts to reduce rough sleeping, which include investing in or securing access to more accommodation. Our rough sleeper support team actively engages with rough sleepers and works not only to get them into accommodation, but also to try to intervene when for whatever reason they are likely to be evicted.

We also have a team working to help rough sleepers access the private rented sector.

The money collected as part of the Looking for Change campaign is given to the Drop In who use it to support people who have been helped into temporary accommodation, received the necessary support that they need, and are ready to move on with their lives into a more settled and permanent form of accommodation.

The campaign has seen close to £6000 given to the charity. It has helped people who were once homeless, get equipment to help them study, it has helped a victim of childhood abuse get to therapy sessions which in turn has helped them stay clean from drugs and start their own business. It has also bought items of furniture for people who were once on the streets but are ready to move into a home of their own.

The wider work of the Council and its rough sleeper support team did lead to a reduction in the number of people rough sleeping in West Suffolk, although this number frequently fluctuates.

The Council provides specialist accommodation for those who are or have been rough sleeping. A number of places are available, and the Council is working with partners to increase that number further.  As always, the Council will continue to provide emergency accommodation options throughout the winter months and it has been working with local housing providers to secure additional temporary and emergency accommodation.

As with last winter, the Council does not envisage that it will need to open a winter shelter as we prefer to offer a range of different options, including smaller individual bed spaces. This decision will be kept under review.

In recent months, Bury St Edmunds has seen an increase in street drinking. Our own rough sleeper night count and welfare checks plus our information on where people are placed in accommodation would suggest that most of these who are street drinking are not rough sleepers.

It should be noted that a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) is in place in the town which prohibits begging and alcohol related anti- social behaviour and police have been making arrests.  We are continuing to work with the police and Our Bury St Edmunds Business Improvement District to look at other possible solutions.

At the same time agencies in the town balance the use of enforcement and engagement to ensure that those who are rough sleeping can access the support needed.

The Bury Drop In is now relaunching The Looking for Change campaign. The campaign is backed by West Suffolk Council, Bury St Edmunds Town Council, Suffolk Police, Our Bury St Edmunds and the Bury Free Press.

We want to ensure that given that Bury St Edmunds is a busy tourist town and receives lots of visitors especially in the run up to Christmas that tourists do not give money to beggars and unwittingly contribute to the problems the town is experiencing.

The online webpage for people to donate to for the Looking for Change campaign in Bury St Edmunds has also changed due to the previous provider stopping the service. The new link is https://burydropin.echoleft.com/fundraising/bury-looking-for-change/donate

Finally, we are approaching winter and we want the public to understand that although they may see rough sleepers out on the streets, the Council is continuing to do all that it possibly can to get people into accommodation and the necessary support that those individuals need.

If you know or suspect someone is sleeping rough, report it to the Council's rough sleeper team using Streetlink www.streetlink.org.uk so that it can talk to them and try to get them the help that they need."