East Riding of Yorkshire Council is working with the Beverley and Rural Community Partnership to tackle street homelessness in Beverley. There is a small number of rough sleepers in the town who, despite being offered access to accommodation and support, have refused to ‘come in’ off the streets.
Entrenched rough-sleeping is a very difficult cycle to break as each person will have different reasons behind living on the street including mental health issues, addiction to alcohol or drugs and a whole range of other complex needs. For some, it is a lifestyle choice.
Sometimes the generosity of residents in giving money and food etc helps to sustain rough sleepers and means that they are less likely to engage with agencies that are there to help them move off the streets and into accommodation.
The Community Partnership has agreed to convene regular multi-agency meetings to try and move these individuals along their journey from street to home. This might take some time and may not be successful in all cases. There is a fine balancing act to be made between compassion and coercion and the Council and its partners will try and ensure that the latter is only used as a last resort.
If any member of the public has any concerns about rough sleeping in East Riding of Yorkshire they can report them to the Rough Sleeper Outreach Team at www.hullharp.org.uk or Tel: (01482) 219022, unless they need urgent medical attention in which case they should call 999.
Councillor David Elvidge, Chair of the Community Partnership, respectfully asks that rather than give money to people sleeping rough, donations are made to the outreach team via their website so they can continue to engage with homeless people to help them off the street.
