Charity faces race to secure its future of outreach teams after revealing shortfall of almost £200,000
A well-known charity working to help rough sleepers off the streets of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire is launching an urgent appeal to save its street outreach services as numbers sleeping rough have soared by 35%.
The charity faces a funding shortfall of £189,122 which means many people may not get the support they urgently need this winter. Now the charity is launching its Winter SOS appeal ahead of World Homeless Day on 10 October in an attempt to plug the gap and protect their lifesaving services.
The Framework Street Outreach Teams supported 161 people in Nottingham City, 134 people in Nottinghamshire, and 128 in Sheffield in August, representing an average increase of 35% from 2023 compared to a 27% increase seen nationally.
Claire Eden, Framework’s head of fundraising and communications, said: “We need more resources, staff and specialist workers to address and meet the needs of the people we find sleeping rough. As recently as this summer, we found a family with young children sleeping on the streets. Our Winter Appeal SOS is a distress call. A call for urgent help and assistance.”
Framework launched its Winter Appeal at Broadway Cinema on Sunday (6 October( with the Nottingham premiere of Someone’s Daughter, Someone’s Son, the powerful documentary by Lorna Tucker exploring the lives of people sleeping rough.
Now a successful filmmaker, Tucker was once a teenage runaway sleeping rough on the streets of London. She returned to her former haunts to speak to current and former homeless people about why, 25 years later, record numbers of people are still reduced to living on Britain’s streets.
Eden added: “It is very important to Framework that we continue to meet the current need but also that we develop the services and respond to emerging and specific needs. Such as the needs of a growing number of women who are homeless but who are ‘hidden’ from services because of their need to stay safe from the perils of visibly sleeping rough. Perils such as sexual and physical abuse and harassment.”
The teams in Nottingham City, Nottinghamshire and Sheffield work 365 days a year, providing life-saving support and advice for hundreds of people who are sleeping rough.
Sam Lanes, manager of Framework’s Street Outreach Team in Nottingham, said: “The number of people we find sleeping rough each day on our early morning walks on the streets of Nottingham has been increasing for some time and continues to increase significantly.
“We know the trauma and risk faced by people on the streets so it is vital that we can continue to be there to support them and avoid people putting themselves in the life-threatening position of sleeping not only on the streets but hidden away in car parks, cemeteries, quarries, building sites or wherever they can find shelter and relative safety.
“Rough sleeping is the tip of the homelessness iceberg – what happens when people run out of options. We ask the public to use our free 24-hour hotline number 0800 066 5356 to alert us if they come across someone sleeping rough, and for people to contact us if they find themselves on the streets.”
People can support Framework’s Winter Appeal by donating at www.frameworkha.org/SOS
