What to do if you or someone you know is at risk of homelessness

Streetlink:

If you are worried about someone sleeping rough you can contact Streetlink so an outreach team can make contact with them directly and get them the support they need.

www.streetlink.org.uk 

If you are homeless or sleeping rough you can get free food at day centres, soup kitchens and food banks.

Find your nearest:

• Day centre at Homeless Link
• Soup run at The Pavement
• Salvation Army Church or Community Centre

To get food from a food bank, you usually need a foodbank voucher. You can ask for a voucher from your GP, a local homeless charity or advice agency such as Citizens Advice.

Take your voucher to the food bank and exchange it for a food parcel. It will contain at least 3 days' emergency food.

Find your nearest food bank at The Trussell Trust.

Different drop-ins may provide a number of services ranging from the practical – a shower, hot meal, warm clothes – to ‘surgeries’ run in the drop-in by specialist agencies such as outreach teams, drug and alcohol workers. Staff are on hand to help with basic housing and welfare enquiries and provide support with phone calls. Some drop-in services provide access to computers so that people can set up claims for Universal Credit or search for jobs. Other drop-in services will refer people for specialist legal advice.

Anyone can come to our drop-ins. You can contact your local Salvation Army church and see if they run a drop-in or if there is one locally. If you are homeless – or at risk of homelessness or concerned about someone who is, the best place to contact is usually your local council and speak to the Homelessness or Housing Options Service.

Use Homeless Link's directory to find a homeless day centre near you

Salvation Army Lifehouses (our hostels) support some of the most vulnerable people in the UK. Lifehouses are not just warm and safe places for people sleeping rough, they are homes with specialist support services designed to help people back into society.

We help our residents overcome addiction, improve their mental health, provide access to healthcare and learn skills so they are able to move on to secure accommodation and live with greater independence and dignity.

A stay in a Lifehouse is usually funded through Housing Benefit and The Salvation Army also makes a contribution. We ask clients to claim Housing Benefit to cover the cost of the rent and associated building costs. Some things are not covered by Housing Benefit - such as meals, laundry etc. We ask people to make a small payment to cover these amounts themselves. 

The Salvation Army’s Lifehouses (hostels) provide supported accommodation to people who are experiencing homelessness. 

We also operate a number of Outreach Services; Day Centres and Housing First Services across the country. Our corps also operate drop in services, providing food, clothing and advice. 

The majority of local authorities now have emergency measures in place to support people who are rough-sleeping to take them off the streets into temporary accommodation, hotels or supported accommodation.

Therefore, people who you notice are rough-sleeping, even if they have no recourse to public funding, should be referred to your local authority – contact their main number and provide details of where you have spotted someone - or use Streetlink so an outreach team can make contact with them directly www.streetlink.org.uk or phone 0300 500 0914. 

In Northern Ireland, If you are or know anyone rough sleeping or who is at risk of rough sleeping, please contact the Housing Executive on: 03448 920 900 

In Dublin, contact Dublin Region Assertive Street Outreach Service (operated               by Dublin Simon Community). 

Telephone: 01 872 0185 
                Monday - Friday from 7am to 1am 
                Saturday - Sunday from 9am to 1am 
                Email: info@dublinoutreach.ie 

We would recommend that you get in touch with your Local Authority homeless prevention team, who are best placed to assist you. You can find out who your Local Authority is on the Government website.