In this part of London, we see most aspects of social injustice – poverty, mental and physical ill health, addiction, migration, exploitation, crime, discrimination. It’s a grim list. We also see resilience, courage, humility, strength of character, potential and hope.
We’ve been doing a “deep dive” into 15 people who work with us. Each case has a file which covers all interactions. The shortest file was 161 pages, the highest was 830, the average was 501. 10 people are British, 4 have had their immigration situation regularised and can now access the services they need. One person has an unclear nationality, which makes most support options inaccessible.
8 of our 15 have chaotic drug or alcohol problems. All but 1 have a major mental health issue, almost all of which are linked to their upbringing and exacerbated in adult life through instability and homelessness. At least 6 have a significant physical health issue and one person refuses to go into hospital despite urgently needing treatment. About half of the people have head injuries, learning disabilities or are neuro-diverse.
All have been in and out of accommodation and it’s taken several “gos” for at least half of them. Everyone has slept rough. 3 are still out, 12 have been through temporary accommodation of one type or another. 3 are now in stable, permanent homes.
It doesn’t matter the personal circumstances, they all have one thing in common. The biggest single barrier they face is access to suitable, affordable accommodation. Not only is there a critical shortage of such accommodation, the people who come to us for help are considered a risk by any type of landlord.
It’s 20 years since The London Connection and The St Martins Social Care Unit merged to form The Connection but rough sleeping in this area has a far longer history. It’s well over 100 years since St Martin’s opened the crypt for soldiers in 1917. Despite this long history, we still have an awful lot to do.
We have launched our new strategy for 2023 – 28 this week. If we want to reduce the stubbornly high numbers of people sleeping out, either the people need to change, or we need to do things differently. We’ve adopted a Theory of Change which articulates the importance of building relationships of trust and connection with people who have lost faith in services. We’ve turned it into a natty animation and you can find out more by visiting our website https://www.connection-at-stmartins.org.uk/what-we-do/, following us on social media or joining our emailing list by sending a message to fundraising@cstm.org.uk.
Pam Orchard, CEO, The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields
