23 September 2024

Glass Door’s Head of Fundraising, Matt Hickey, went on London Live to talk about rising homelessness in London and our upcoming Sleep Out.

Matt started by mentioning the most recent Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) figures, which showed rough sleeping in London at the highest levels on record. He spoke about Glass Door’s services, the different backgrounds that Glass Door guests come from, the rise in need for our services and the rise in need for our services that we have seen. Matt finished by speaking about Sleep Out 2024.

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Here are some quotes from the interview:

“Our work is really two-fold. So at Glass Door we’re based in London and we run an emergency winter night shelter. We do that throughout the coldest months of the year, from November through to April, and we provide that for 105 people per night who otherwise would be sleeping on the streets of London. The other aspect of our work is [our] casework service, with a dedicated team of caseworkers that work with people all year round who are at risk of homelessness or are currently experiencing homelessness, and they work with them on a variety of different things. It could be trying to find permanent accommodation for them, it could be making sure that they’ve got access to benefits that they’re entitled to, or it could be accessing healthcare that they desperately need.”

“We had someone a couple of years ago, a woman who was in an abusive relationship and also had suffered a stroke. She was in her 60s so she had to leave that situation, she was unable to work because of her health and you can sort of see then how that sort turns into a downward spiral. Thankfully we were able to help them.”

“We have got our twelfth annual Sleep Out that is coming up on the fourth of October. That takes place at Duke of York Square, and what Sleep Out is is our biggest fundraising event of the year. Last year we raised £100,000 for it, this year we’re aiming to raise £120,000. That money that we raise will go towards the vital services that I’ve spoken about, so providing this winter night shelter through the coldest months of the year and supporting as many people as we can from our casework service to get them into something more permanent, so we can find them a permanent route out of homelessness.”

You can watch the full interview here: https://www.londonlive.co.uk/news/london-homelessness-hits-record-high/