I slept rough for years – why has it taken Britain so long to end homelessness?

This morning I woke up to news that Prime Minister Andy Burnham was proposing to spend £442m to get everyone sleeping rough off the streets by Christmas.

I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing.  

He has gone as far to say that every rough sleeper in England will be offered accommodation this winter, alongside practical support for any health needs.

As someone who has had to sleep rough and spent the past twenty years campaigning to end homelessness, it felt like I was finally being listened to.

And voices like mine are important – I know exactly what it feels like when you don’t have a home to go to.  

I started rough sleeping at 13 after leaving the care system and having no support. I spent more than a decade moving between the streets and temporary accommodation, until I finally left homelessness behind aged 24.  

As a teenager and young woman, I would sleep behind Charing Cross station, trying not to be seen for fear of being attacked, abused or told to move on.  

Sometimes I’d have no choice but to beg on the Strand for enough money just to get something to eat.  

I spent years living a life that most people could never imagine. 

And the wintertime was especially hard. 

Everyone seemed to be going somewhere – people were rushing home to their families, buying presents, meeting friends and getting ready for Christmas.  

But I didn’t have a home to go to, let alone a family to spend the festivities with.  

One of the only things I had to look forward to was ‘Crisis at Christmas’ – an initiative by the charity where they provide food, warmth, healthcare, and companionship to anyone experiencing homelessness across England, Scotland and Wales, during the festive period.

Over the years, I found myself going there to have somewhere warm to sleep, get some food, a shower and clean clothes.

People actually spoke to me like a human being, which meant everything to me 

Sometimes we underestimate what it means to simply feel welcome somewhere when you’ve spent most of your life feeling like you don’t belong anywhere.  

So, when Andy Burnham says he wants to get people off the streets by Christmas, I desperately want this to work.  

Many people will question whether it’s really possible to end rough sleeping – but we’ve already done it once before.

During Covid, the Everyone In policy saw thousands of people who would otherwise be on the streets, given somewhere to sleep. Politicians seemed to have woken up and realised that leaving people to suffer outside isn’t acceptable.  

The scheme proved that when there’s enough funding and a genuine desire to improve people’s lives, change is possible.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little anxious about what happens next.

Getting somebody off the street is not the same as ending their homelessness, which is often caused by a series of systemic failures that led them to that point – such as a deficit of social housing or poverty wages.

I wasn’t just a ‘rough sleeper’ who needed a short-term fix, I was a young girl carrying years of childhood trauma, having been through various foster and children’s homes. 

And when things got really difficult, I suffered from addiction and mental health struggles, which I needed support with. 

But I was offered none.

Life is very different for me now – but it doesn’t work out this way for everyone.

I’m now a consultant and speaker on homelessness and provide training, where I speak to professionals about the solutions of ending all forms of homelessness and showing what this looks like from the other side. 

The latest figures show that there are over 175,000 children living in temporary accommodation. 

When you include hidden forms of homelessness, including people sofa surfing and particularly women sleeping rough who are often hidden from public view, the numbers are off the charts. 

I hope that Andy Burnham takes this reality into account so that his plan can succeed in the long term.

It’s great to give people somewhere safe to sleep, but the aim should be to move them into a safe and permanent home in the long term, with the necessary support and to move on from the trauma that comes with experiencing homelessness.  

Getting someone off the street is one thing. 

Making sure they never have to go back is another. 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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