Children playing in water

Doorstep AGM set for 21st May

We are pleased to announce that Doorstep will host its AGM on the 21st May, 2018 at its 13 Broadhurst Gardens residence to report on its performance for 2017-2018 as well as its future plans.

If you would like to attend please get in touch.

We're really pleased to have been featured in both the The Independent and the Evening Standard today.

Help a Hungry Child with StreetSmart

We’re really pleased to have been featured in both the The Independent and the Evening Standard today.

The Article tells the story of one of our service users and provides an insight in to the realities of being homeless in London in 2017 with two small children.

We are so very grateful for the all the fundraising contributions that StreetSmart have made to Doorstep over the years, it’s really helped us to continue to make a difference to the families we support. Sadly we are not fully funded by Street Smart and we are reliant on donations and money that can be raised.

To read the article  CLICK HERE

Victoria Coren Mitchell

Introducing our Patron – Victoria Coren Mitchell

Victoria Coren Mitchell is a nationally recognised writer, television presenter and poker player.  She is a parent, Camden resident and long standing supporter of Doorstep.

Victoria Coren Mitchell

 

 

I was bowled over by Doorstep when I first walked in. It’s an organisation that obviously has a huge and transformative effect on the lives of the people it serves – there is a community of lonely mothers, unlucky children and stigmatised families who might otherwise be sitting in tiny rooms feeling hopeless, but instead can find light and space and colour and laughter and play – and help, and kindness and company – and this is surely the road back to pride and confidence, getting back into the workplace and the regular world. I think it’s really wonderful.”

Aviva community fund vote

Vote for Doorstep in the Aviva Community Funding Contest

We’re really excited to be participating the the Aviva Community Fund programme this year

 

 

 

 

 

We’re in with a chance of being awarded up to 25k, yes 25k of funding that will help us to continue in the work we do to support homeless families.

In order for us to be successful we need votes… That’s where you wonderful people can help 

If you would like to help us secure a place in the finals please click on the link below and cast all of your 10 votes for us and share this blog post with your friends and family.

Click here to vote for Doorstep in the Aviva Community Fund

Thank you for your continued support,

Zoe | Doorstep

Highly relevant Guardian article – Record numbers left homeless after eviction by private landlords in England

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/28/eviction-by-private-landlord-making-record-numbers-homeless-in-uk

Record numbers left homeless after eviction by private landlords in England

End of an assured shorthold tenancy cited by nearly a third of newly homeless households, figures show

 Social policy editor
 Wednesday 28 September 2016

Record numbers of families are becoming homeless after being evicted by private landlords and finding themselves unable to afford a suitable alternative place to live, government figures show.

The end of an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) was cited by nearly a third of the 15,170 households in England who were classed as homeless in the three months to June – a number that was up 10% on the same period last year.

The problem was particularly acute in London, accounting for 41% of all homelessness acceptances in the capital during the period, according to figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Boat trip and birthday!

10 children attending Doorstep enjoyed a gifted RIB boat trip last Saturday – complete with James Bond music playing. Also – happy birthday to the ten year old birthday boy. They loved it and haven’t stopped talking about it!

 

Opinion: Improving the way we provide council housing

The New Year is now well underway and in Camden our new housing allocations policy has gone live.

Ham&High investigation reveals 17 per cent hike in rough sleeping in Borough of Camden

http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/dickensian_rise_in_rough_sleeping_in_camden_numbers_at_five_year_high_1_4379757

Camden has seen a huge rise in rough sleeping in the borough as the number on the streets tops 600 for the first time in five years.

The high cost of housing and cuts to services have been blamed for a 17 per cent hike in rough sleeping in Camden last year, echoing something from a Dickens’ novel according to one expert.

Ian Bangay, of Camden Council’s Safer Streets team, said: “The word Dickensian is very apt. It’s a huge rise and I do find it shocking.

“People spoke some years ago about reducing rough sleeping in London to zero and yet look at it.

Ian Bangay, project manager of the Camden Safer Streets Team, described the rise in rough sleeping as ‘Dickensian’.

“There are far too many rough sleepers and government policy is assisting the increase in the numbers.”

Our investigation has revealed that almost three quarters of those living on Camden’s streets have mental health problems or are addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Just before Christmas the Ham&High went on patrol in Hampstead with those tasked with tackling rough sleeping.

Among those we found was one homeless man hidden inside a dirty duvet, just metres from the multi-million pound mansions around Whitestone Pond.

Those working to reduce homelessness say there has been no increase in London-wide resources yet the number of rough sleepers in Camden has jumped from 361 in 2011 to 601 last year.

This is placing a huge strain on services.

The number of rough sleepers is being fuelled by hundreds who are new to the streets, we can reveal.

Just over half of the 601 people sleeping rough in the borough last year were UK nationals and many are not previously known to agencies tasked with tackling homelessness.

“The majority of the people that we’re seeing are new to the streets and will never have been seen before and that’s shocking,” said Mr Ian Bangay, project manager of the Safer Streets team, which provides outreach services to street sleepers.

“We’re waking up a lot of people who are saying ‘I’m not a rough sleeper, I’ve just lost my job and I couldn’t find work, so I’ve been thrown out of my accommodation’, but they’re sleeping in a bag in a shop doorway.”

The number of rough sleepers in Camden has leapt by 66 per cent since 2011, from 361 people that year to 601 in 2015.

Among the factors influencing the rise are high house prices, cuts to services such as day centres and homeless people arriving at St Pancras, King’s Cross and Euston stations and staying in Camden.

“Things get closed down and you don’t think it will have an impact, like day centres for autistic people for instance,” said Mr Bangay.

“When the government take populist measures such as cuts to benefits, people think they’re saving UK money but they don’t think about the consequences to the homeless population.

“If they cut housing benefits there’s the cost of having 600 people on the streets – not just to police, the health service, the council, but the cost to human misery as well.

“We’re seeing more and more people who have lost jobs and can’t pay rent as austerity bites.”

The availability of highly addictive legal highs in Camden Town has also contributed to the rise, he said.

Three quarters of those on the borough’s streets last year had identified mental health, drugs or alcohol issues and far more men than women slept rough, 525 males compared to 76 females.

The Safer Streets team sends outreach workers to try and help rough sleepers into shelters and to access support.

But the number of places in shelters has remained static while the number of rough sleepers has increased sharply.

Camden Council said it is doing all it can to tackle the issues.

Cllr Jonathan Simpson, cabinet member for community safety, said: “Like many local authorities we are concerned that a shortage of affordable accommodation, government benefit cuts and changes to the way charities are funded are causing a sharp increase in homelessness across the capital, with increasingly limited resources to help those who are homeless.”