Ealing Council works with a range of partners including St. Mungo’s and other homelessness charities, specialist substance misuse and mental health organisations, and community groups to ensure rough sleepers are provided with appropriate support and offered a route off the streets.
What to do if you are rough sleeping or are aware of somebody rough sleeping
If you are rough sleeping or are aware of somebody rough sleeping, you can either:
- Alert the local authority and outreach services by making a referral to Streetlink. Streetlink is run in partnership between Homeless Link and St. Mungo’s, and is funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Greater London Authority. Streetlink ensures that the concerns you raise about a rough sleeper are referred to the most appropriate local outreach service, which in Ealing will be run by St. Mungo’s. When you refer a rough sleeper to Streetlink, it is important to give as much information as you can. It is important to give a very specific location, rather than just a street or park. This will help the outreach team to find the person, when they go out at night. It is also important to say what time of day you saw the person sleeping there and how often you have seen them. If you are able to give a brief description and any other relevant information, that too will be useful. All these bits of information will make contacting and helping the person easier.
- Support or advise the rough sleeper to call 0208 825 8888
Rough sleeping in very cold weather
Ealing Council’s Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) comes into operation during periods of severe weather, providing shelter to rough sleepers. The outreach team carry out extra shifts to make sure that they can offer help to as many rough sleepers as possible. If you are concerned about someone sleeping rough during severe weather, please contact Streetlink.
In Ealing, there are a number of services which meet the needs of those individuals who sleep rough:
Outreach services
- St. Mungo’s deliver outreach services on behalf of the council. They respond to reports of rough sleeping made via Streetlink and work to help all rough sleepers to be able to move away from the streets
Specialist services
- RISE Drug and Alcohol Service
- Street Legal immigration advice service, which works in partnership with St. Mungo’s
Night shelters
- Hope for Southall Street Homeless is an independent charity which offers emergency beds to rough sleepers with a Southall connection. It works very closely with St. Mungo’s
- Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelters is an independent charity which provides rolling night shelters in participating churches in the borough between late November and March
Day centres
- Acton Homeless Concern is a charitable organisation which runs day centres for homeless people