The right mix of aid for rough sleepers

St Mungo’s is fortunate to already work with a number of them, so we know they have excellent best practice to share. We look forward to seeing how these champions focus their energies and spend the additional resources allocated to them.

Ending rough sleeping means providing viable ways to support rough sleepers with access to the right mix of housing, health and work opportunities, while preventing more people turning to the streets.

One priority St Mungo’s will be pressing for is more joint working with health commissioners. Around a third of rough sleepers have a diagnosed mental illness, a figure that sadly has not changed much over many years. The number with undiagnosed poor mental health is much higher.

St Mungo’s would like to thank those in the housing sector who contributed to our call for people’s views on the links between mental ill health and homelessness and how to break them.

The deadline is now closed and the final report will be published in the autumn. We hope this will be another way best practice can really have an impact on rough sleeping.

Mike McCall, director of operations, St Mungo’s