Vacant shop units are an unwelcome sight in any major city, but Nottingham's dormant premises are not completely empty. The doorways and front steps at many vacant shops are instead becoming home to one of the city's fastest growing problems.
Rough sleeping is currently one of the most visible issues in Nottingham city centre and yet sadly, some of those caught up in it feel completely invisible. One woman I spoke to this week, who had been sleeping on the streets for six months, said she can often go a full day without anyone speaking to her.
Perhaps due to the sheer tragedy of human beings being forced by a whole host of complex circumstances to live their life on the streets, rough sleeping is an issue which many may wish to bury their head in the sand about. But recent statistics from the homelessness charity Framework suggest this is a problem which will become more and more difficult to ignore.
Is the government doing enough to help with the cost of living? Let us know here.
The outreach team at Framework counted 57 people sleeping rough on one day last month, the highest August count since records began in 2011. Overall, the charity said last month that rough sleeping had increased by 41% in a year.
It can often be difficult to visualise such dramatic increases, but anyone struggling to has clearly not taken a walk around the centre of Nottingham in a good while. I walked for just an hour around the city centre on Wednesday (September 6) and counted 16 people sleeping rough.
Many were huddled together in large groups, particularly on Lister Gate, with Framework saying that many rough sleepers are now congregating for safety reasons. That is no surprise when incidents reportedly faced by Nottingham's rough sleepers in recent months have included people urinating and spitting on them.
Equally as tragic as rough sleeping itself is the idea that some could hold such disgusting and disrespectful views of their fellow human beings. But no matter how appalled we are by such barbarity, which is of course counteracted by numerous acts of generosity, fixing that will never be enough.
Although rough sleeping is an issue which none of us should ignore, it is ultimately those holding the purse strings that need to be paying the most attention. The Government has said that it is "determined" to eliminate rough sleeping across the country and technically, it already has.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the inability of rough sleepers to follow the 'stay at home' message saw them being placed in secure accommodation. With rough sleeping having practically been solved across England, there were hopes expressed that the progress made on the issue would not be lost.
But the current numbers speak for themselves and some of those at Framework now describe the Government as being like a "rabbit trapped in the headlights" when it comes to tackling homelessness. Although having pledged £2 billion towards the issue over the next three years, this amount of money has been described as a "drop in the ocean" compared to the support that has existed before and crucially, to the support that is needed now.
Homelessness is one of several issues not to make an appearance in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's list of five pledges ahead of the next election. But even if the problem had featured, that alone would clearly have been no guarantee to progress being made any time soon.
Given the complexity of the problem, the CEO of Framework has in fact said that bringing down levels of rough sleeping and homelessness will be an incredibly long-term project for whichever government comes into power next year. But there does seem to be a disconnect between the palpable nature of rough sleeping in Nottingham and the attention it is receiving in Westminster.
The solutions may be complex and the numbers may be a long time in coming down, but given this issue the attention it deserves is one simple fix that parties of all colours can make straight away. People in such vulnerable situations should not be made to feel invisible any longer.
The incredibly visible Nottingham problem that needs more attention
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10.09.2023
Vacant shop units are an unwelcome sight in any major city, but Nottingham's dormant premises are not completely empty. The doorways and front steps at many vacant shops are instead becoming home to one of the city's fastest growing problems.
Rough sleeping is currently one of the most visible issues in Nottingham city centre and yet sadly, some of those caught up in it feel completely invisible. One woman I spoke to this week, who had been sleeping on the streets for six months, said she can often go a full day without anyone speaking to her.
Perhaps due to the sheer tragedy of human beings being forced by a whole host of complex circumstances to live their life on the streets, rough sleeping is an issue which many may wish to bury their head in the sand about. But recent statistics from the homelessness charity Framework suggest this is a problem which will become more and more difficult to ignore.
Is the government doing enough to help with the cost of living? Let us know........
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