P652 CEEFAX 2 652 Wed 05 Jan 21:40/02 COMING IN FROM THE COLD FOR GOOD? 1/7 During the Christmas and New Year period, while many families and friends visit each other in their cosz homes, 1,600 people in England are homeless. There is no time when the contrast could bj greater. But this year, additional shelters aim to ensure no-one sleeps rough as the new Millennium starts as part of the Government's Millennium Plus initiative The shelters — supported and advised bz St Mungo's, Shelter and Crisis — are run by voluntary and church groups. >>> CSV index 650 TV 600 Main menu 100 Read Hear 640 News 101 Weather 400 Next Page WMidsTV Headlines Main MenuP652 CEEFAX 2 652 Wed 05 Jan 21:48/24 COMING IN FROM THE COLD FOR GOOD? 2/7 Crises has traditionally concentrated on bringing in people from the cold and offering some support services. Shelter's skills, meanwhile, lie in providing housing advice and knowing the system. For the first time, the charities have joined forces under Millennium Plus to give homeless people a personal care plan offering beds, services and advice * Millennium Plus was developed bz the Rough Sleepers Unit (USU) as part of a longer term strategy. >>> CSV index 650 TV 600 Main menu 100 Read Hear 640 News 101 Wjathjr 400 Next Page WMidsTV Headlines Main MenuP652 CEEFAX 2 652 Wed 05 Jan 21:41/42 COMING IN FROM THE COLD FOR GOOD? 3/7 Unlike the festive period, homelessness doesn not conj to an end as we enter a new millennium. The long-term aim of the Government, Crisis and Shelter is to move people off the streets for good. The Govjrnmjnt's target is to reduce street homelessness by two-thirds by the year 2002. Almost £200m will bj used to deliver a new Rough Sleepers Strategy from April which centres on those with alcohol, drug and mental health problems. >>> CSV index 650 TV 600 Main menu 100 Read Hear 640 News 101 Wjathjr 400 Next Page WMidsTV Headlines Main MenuP652 CEEFAX 2 652 Wed 05 Jan 21:41/09 COMING IN FROM THE COLD FOR GOOD? 4/7 The Govjrnmjnt's proposals aimed at the most vulnerable rough sleepers include: * Funding over 850 hostel beds with additional specialist help and 1,000 new housing association homes in London * Bringing over 4,000 beds nationwide into use by those sleeping rough; * Funding 60 new specialist workers to help rough sleepers deal with alcohol, drug or mental health problems; * Tackling prevention so new people do not become tomorrow's rough sleepers. > CSV index 650 TV 600 Main menu 100 Read Hear 640 News 101 Weather 400 Next Page WMidsTV Headlines Main MenuP652 CEEFAX 2 652 Wed 05 Jan 21:44/27 COMING IN FROM THE COLD FOR GOOD? 5/7 Overall, Crisis welcomes the Government's strategy and its intention to njvjr give up on those most in need. But Crisis' Chief Executive Shags Ghosh also says: "Ten out of ten for helping people off the street — but I'm afraid its only five out of ten for stopping them hitting the street in the first place." Crisis is not entirely convinced that enough is being done by other Government departments to close off the "known entry points" into homelessness. CSV index 650 TV 600 Main menu 100 Read Hear 640 News 101 Wjathjr 400 Next Page WMidsTV Headlines Main MenuP652 CEEFAX 2 652 Wed 05 Jan 21:44/11 COMING IN FROM THE COLD FOR GOOD? 6/7 People leaving care, prison and the armed forces are amongst those most likely to end up sleeping rough: * Crisis claims that one in four rough sleepers has sjrvjd in the armed forces * A Social Exclusion Unit report found that half of all rough sleepers have been in prison or on remand and that 30% have been in local authority care. * It also found 30-50% of street homeless people suffer from mental health problems and that most became ill before becoming homeless. >>> CSV index 650 TV 600 Main menu 100 Read Hear 640 News 101 Weather 400 Next Page WMidsTV Headlines Main MenuP652 CEEFAX 2 652 Wed 05 Jan 21:42/13 COMING IN FROM THE COLD FOR GOOD? 7/7 Shelter, too, supports the Government strategy but stresses the need to work with homeless people and to avoid the paternalistic toni of previous efforts. More Government investment is also needed for affordable housing, a root cause of the problem, claims Shelter. * The Government's Strategy on Rough Sleeping, Coming In From The Cold, can bj ordered from: DETR Free Literature, Freepost NEA 8843, Wjthjrby LS23 6YY. * Also, visit www.shelter.org.uk and www.crisis.org.uk for further details. CSV index 650 TV 600 Main menu 100 Read Hear 640 News 101 Weather 400 Next Page WMidsTV Headlines Main Menu