Wanting a place to call home is a natural desire and a basic human right. However, the number of people affected by homelessness each year in England and Wales is considerable and growing.
Based on official government statistics, in autumn 2017 the total number of people were sleeping rough in England was 4,751.1 This represents an increase of 169% since 2010 and a 33% increase since 2015. In Wales, 345 people were found to be sleeping rough in autumn 2017, which marks a 44% increase since 2015.2 Last year, in total more than 5,000 people were estimated to have slept rough across England and Wales.
While there is recognition from the public that homelessness is going up, new research from YMCA has found that just one in four young people who are homeless (26%) believe the public care about youth homelessness.
When thinking about themselves and their personal situation, even fewer young people who are homeless believe the public are concerned. Less than one in five homeless young people (19%) believe the public care about their situation. This sense that very few care about their plight suggests young people feel enough is still not being done to support them to avoid and escape homelessness.
We want YMCA Sleep Easy to be a way of showing young people who are homeless that the public do care about them and that they are trying to tackle the problem of homelessness by raising vital funds. If you would like more information on how you can support our national fundraising event it can be found on our dedicated Sleep Easy page.
DOWNLOAD REPORTIf you want to find out more about this research or if you have a query, please contact our Policy team on policy@ymca.org.uk