A homeless campaigner has described the rough sleeping situation in Liverpool as the "worst it has ever been" amid hopes a new night shelter could open in the city.
Michelle Langan, who runs the Papercup homeless charity, says she had been shocked and saddened to see the number of people rough sleeping on the streets and in tents in recent weeks in Liverpool and described the intense pressure organisations and charities are under.
The ECHO has published a number of features on the soaring homelessness crisis in the city. Rough sleeping has risen by more than 50% and hundreds of families are waiting in temporary accommodation as the council scrambles to try and find housing amid a desperate shortage.
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Ms Langan's charity works to help those at the sharpest end of homelessness who are sleeping rough on the streets. The charity does outreach work, while its coffee shop in Queen Square raises cash for those struggling while also providing shelter and hot drinks throughout the year.
Having worked in the sector for many years, she has never seen a more difficult situation. She told the ECHO: "This is the worst I have ever seen it in Liverpool. I walked through town and I was really shocked at the amount of tents on the streets and people sleeping rough. I have never seen it so bad.
"We are seeing more people who are newly homeless. There are a lot of organisations asking us for referrals. Everyone is overwhelmed at the moment and struggling for funds. We all want to help but there is so much pressure on everyone right now."
The Papercup Coffee shop uses a "pay it forward" system where people fund hot drinks for the homeless guests who come into the shop. But as the cost of living crisis bites hard, they are seeing less and less in terms of donations.
Ms Langan added: "Some days in the coffee shop we don't have enough pay it forwards to pay for coffees for the homeless people who come in and that's really sad."
Speaking about the wider situation in the city, she added: "The hostels are full and there are lots of people waiting for temporary accommodation. There is a real blockage in the pipeline. That is a really big problem and unfortunately it isn't going to change overnight."
Liverpool's dedicated night shelter, Labre House, closed during the pandemic and Ms Langan said she hopes a new shelter could open soon.
She added: "I am hopeful that we will see some form of shelter opened in the city because January and February are actually the coldest months."
It was revealed last month how since 2019, the amount spent on households in temporary accommodation has risen from £250,000 to more than £19m – £3m more than the annual budget set by the city. Around 900 people are in temporary accommodation, with an additional 528 in “expensive” B&Bs across Liverpool, more commonly used to provide emergency first night accommodation.
Despite the growing crisis, Liverpool Council leader Liam Robinson insists his administration's aim is to eradicate homelessness in the city.
Cllr Robinson said: "From our perspective, there’s a lot we are investing into the homelessness approach. Nobody is needing to be on the streets and roughly each night we’re finding about 30 people around the city’s streets that great organisations like the Whitechapel (Centre) are engaging with.
"When we get into some of the severe weather protocols we’ve got, we are making sure we get everybody inside that wants to come inside, there’s no reason why anybody should be on the streets but we know we need a more systematic approach and that’s why we’re working more closely with Steve Rotheram and the combined authority on things like Housing First – it’s not just about making sure they’ve got a home, it’s about making sure they’ve got the right wrap around support, which supports them to remain in that home and that’s the support to tackle the other challenging things in their lives that may have led them on to the streets, particularly if there’s addiction or mental health issues for example.
"From our perspective that’s how we’ll keep focussing on this because we’re determined to try and deliver it, as it is at the heart of our programme and equally and how we crack on to build 8,000 homes over the next four years."
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