RECRUITMENT OPEN EVENING
APRIL 2007
POTTERDALE COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTRE - SPACE FOR HIRE
March 2007
LHC OPENS ITS DOORS TO THE COMMUNITY
March 2007
"ELDER ABUSE" ON THE INCREASE
February 2007
"THE CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE OVER IMMIGRANT BRIDES MUST END"
February 2007
DOORS OPEN TO DEMENTIA AT POTTERDALE
January 2007
LHC OPEN DAY
July 2006
LHC AWARDED ACCREDITATION CERTIFICATE BY LEEDS CITY COUNCIL
March 2006
"IN THE INTEREST OF THE CHILD"
February 2006
2006 AGM
November 2005
SEACOLE LAUNCHES
February 2005
SAHARA AMALGAMATES WITH LHC
LHC's AGM
December 2004
MORE THAN 100,000 CHILDREN STUCK IN B&Bs
A RUSE BY ANY OTHER NAME
BUDGET CUTS THREATEN HOMELESS HOSTELS
November 2004
GREY AREA
October 2004
52,000 YOUTHS HAVE NOWHERE TO LIVE, STUDY FINDS
September 2004
HOMELESSNESS SOARS IN BLACK AND ASIAN COMMUNITIES
July 2004
HOMELESS FAMILIES HIT CRISIS LEVELS
380,000 HOMELESS 'GOING UNRECORDED'
June 2004
I SLEPT ROUGH, BUT COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS TO BE HOMELESS
WHEN A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME
COMMUNITY SPIRIT
April 2004
SUCCESS IN CRACKDOWN ON BEGGARS
LHC CLIENT SUPPORT INCREASES BY 32 %
LHC PURCHASES ITS FIRST PROPERTY
LHC IT UPGRADE
NEW TRUSTEES ON LHC BOARD
LHC TENANT REPRESENTATIVES
LHC HOLDS RECRUITMENT OPEN EVENING
LHC Recruitment Evening
192 Dewsbury Road
Leeds
LS11 6ER
(next to the One Stop Centre)
LHC is looking to recruit to a variety of positions and the informal open evening will give you an opportunity to find out about the benefits of working for us. We are keen to hear from anyone who would be interested in considering working for us now or in the
If you would like to attend, register by contacting LHC on:
(0113) 276 0616 or
reception@leedshc.org.uk
POTTERDALE COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTRE - SPACE FOR HIRE
LHC has operated a day centre for older people for over 20 years in South Leeds and opened this purpose built centre in 2003.
Over the years Potterdale has helped a number of older people with mental health problems access support both in the centre and in the community with a long term aim to help service access other mainstream services in their community.
The centre includes a large main room, kitchen and an award winning enclosed garden. Located adjacent to Dewsbury Road One Stop Centre and Library there is also ample parking available. Additionally, there is also a room available for rent at the centre which could be used as office space by another organisation.
LHC OPENS ITS DOORS TO THE COMMUNITY
LHC Open Day 14th March 2007
A wide range of people took up the opportunity to speak with members of staff from different projects and view displays that had been creatively put together by staff and our service users.
If you were unable to attend on the day and would like a copy of the information pack and poster that was given out or would like to register for the e-mail bulletin please contact LHC on 0113 276 0616 or by e-mailing reception@leedshc.org.uk
ELDER ABUSE
New Findings: Millions Stolen, Defrauded or Conned from Older People by Their Own Sons and Daughters Each Year
The findings, which have been launched by national charity Action on Elder Abuse (AEA), is a study of all the calls to the charity’s helpline during 2006, relating to financial abuse of older people in their own homes.
The audit shows that a staggering 53% of theft, fraud and deception which takes place in a domiciliary setting is committed by the victim’s own sons or daughters - who are usually middle aged.
Of the 471 incidents analysed over the twelve month period, a minimum of two million pounds cash was reported as stolen or coerced from older people, with an additional eighteen houses also being sold or taken without consent. A further thirteen houses were given away without the full awareness of the owner, or after significant pressure - including blackmail.
Said AEA chief executive, Gary FitzGerald, “This is a horrendous state of affairs. It may seem inconceivable to most of us that a son or daughter could stoop to such appalling depths. This is the generation that lived through the war and suffered hardship to bring up their families and it beggars belief that they can be treated so callously by their own families. Sadly however, it is a truth we all need to accept, not least older people themselves. Often they are embarrassed or ashamed at what their children have done and think it unique. They need to know that is not the case and that they can speak out.”
The charity is now calling for banks and building societies to put strategies in place to protect their older customers, for local authorities to make financial abuse a high priority on their adult protection agenda, and for the Government to revisit the recommendations on financial abuse made three years ago by the Health Select Committee Inquiry into elder abuse.
The charity is also renewing its call for government to give adult protection the same legal status as child protection.
Continued FitzGerald, “Since last March we’ve been calling for adult protection to be put on the same statutory footing as child protection work. The benefits would underpin services with proper investment and resources, and give professionals the legal powers they need to offer protection.
We have to ask why Scotland can see the urgency for such legislation while the rest of the UK drags its heels. Until we treat the abuse of older people with the same seriousness as child abuse, this level of theft, fraud and deception is likely to continue. It’s becoming a veritable industry in our nations."
- Financial Abuse is defined by Action on Elder Abuse as stealing from, defrauding someone of, or coercing someone to part with, goods and/or property
- 471 calls to our helpline during the twelve months of 2006 show that:
- £2,108,236 was reported as stolen, defrauded, or coerced from elderly victims
- 18 houses were sold or taken without consent (equivalent to £3,328,632 worth of property*)
- An additional 13 houses were given away under pressure, including blackmail, or without full awareness (equivalent to £2,404,012 worth of property*)
- The total monetary value involved is estimated to be £7,840,880
- Almost half (49%) of victims were women, aged over 81 years
- The majority of perpetrators were sons and/or daughters aged 41-60
The Health Select Committee Inquiry into Elder Abuse (2004) made two key recommendations regarding financial abuse:
- Recommendation 18 stated, ‘We recommend that the prevention, detection and remedying of financial abuse should be included as specific areas of policy development by adult protection committees’
- Recommendation 20 stated, ‘We further recommend that the regulatory bodies of health and social care increase their surveillance of financial systems including the use of powers of attorney and, in care homes, the use of resident’s personal allowances’
AEA action calls:
- Full implementation of Health Select Committee Inquiry Recommendations on Financial Abuse
- Full implementation of The Mental
Capacity Act - Financial institutions to provide greater protection to vulnerable older people
- A review of statutory agency thresholds for responding to cases of financial abuse
- Adult Protection work to have the same legislative status as child protection
- Full implementation of Health Select Committee Inquiry Recommendations on Financial Abuse would increase the priority given to financial abuse by local adult protection processes. It would also ensure that regulatory bodies invest resources to tackle this problem.
- Full implementation of The Mental Capacity Act includes standardising arrangements for acting on behalf of someone, and control and use of a person’s finances. It will however require investment by key agencies, including training staff to work within the spirit of the Act.
- Financial institutions to provide greater protection to vulnerable older people. Lax regulations and low levels of awareness amongst key financial institutions increase the vulnerability of many older people to financial abuse. Major financial institutions need to develop strategies for detecting and responding to potential cases of financial abuse, including strict regulations governing management and access to older people’s finances.
- A review of statutory agency thresholds for responding to cases of financial abuse. Many cases of financial abuse involving older people fail the ‘threshold’ tests employed by statutory agencies. This can be due to initial amounts appearing quite small i.e. £20-£30 per week. Often, on further investigation, the actual amounts involved can be considerably larger.
- Introducing an Adult Protection Act would give the work a similar status to that of child protection, give professionals the necessary powers to act in abusive situations, ensure adequate funding, and send a message to abusers that their behaviour is unacceptable to society and will incur legal penalties.
* the figures of £3,328,632 and £2,404,012 were calculated using the average house price of £184,924 given on the BBC News website on 17/01/07. Figures provided by the Land Registry of England & Wales.
For a copy of the report send an email headed "The Cost of Living" to
enquiries@elderabuse.org.uk
THE SECRET VIOLENCE THAT CHALLENGES BRITAIN'S ASIANS
The conspiracy of silence over immigrant brides must end.
Last week a young bride was living in fear of her life after managing to escape from a violent husband and his family in Manchester. She had suffered six months of domestic abuse.
She said that ‘family honour’ made it difficult for women in similar circumstances to admit to domestic problems and feared that her escape would bring shame on her own family.“This is happening to many other Asian girls - our lives are being destroyed. Something needs to be done.” she told the Manchester Evening News.
It is indeed happening to many other Asian girls around the country. Today I will present a documentary for the BBC Asian Network radio station highlighting domestic violence against women. It focuses on brides who have come over from South Asia and their particularly difficult position. In 2005 the Government recorded just over 10,000 women coming from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as part of a marriage.
There is a discussion to be had on why so many British Asian men feel the need to marry someone from where their parents were born. Being fairly libertarian in my outlook, I’m not all that concerned about who people choose to marry or from where. I don’t have anything against such transnational marriages. After all, my brother found his wife while travelling around India and I happily attended his wedding in New Delhi. But I am concerned about the attitudes that underpin some of these marriages and the consequences for the brides. The view of most British Asian women we interviewed was that these men simply wanted someone who was submissive and willing to do their bidding. We even found men who openly admitted such attitudes.
The more pressing problem is that women who come here as brides are very vunerable to the whims of their husbands.What happens if the marriage fails? What if she is beaten by her husband or in-laws? One in four British women is a victim of domestic violence within her lifetime but at least most of them will have someone to turn to.
She said that ‘family honour’ made it difficult for women in similar circumstances to admit to domestic problems and feared that her escape would bring shame on her own family.“This is happening to many other Asian girls - our lives are being destroyed. Something needs to be done.” she told the Manchester Evening News.
It is indeed happening to many other Asian girls around the country. Today I will present a documentary for the BBC Asian Network radio station highlighting domestic violence against women. It focuses on brides who have come over from South Asia and their particularly difficult position. In 2005 the Government recorded just over 10,000 women coming from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as part of a marriage.
There is a discussion to be had on why so many British Asian men feel the need to marry someone from where their parents were born. Being fairly libertarian in my outlook, I’m not all that concerned about who people choose to marry or from where. I don’t have anything against such transnational marriages. After all, my brother found his wife while travelling around India and I happily attended his wedding in New Delhi. But I am concerned about the attitudes that underpin some of these marriages and the consequences for the brides. The view of most British Asian women we interviewed was that these men simply wanted someone who was submissive and willing to do their bidding. We even found men who openly admitted such attitudes.
The more pressing problem is that women who come here as brides are very vunerable to the whims of their husbands.What happens if the marriage fails? What if she is beaten by her husband or in-laws? One in four British women is a victim of domestic violence within her lifetime but at least most of them will have someone to turn to.
Firstly, there are legal issues. These women are usually unsure of their nationality because they have to rely on their husbands to apply for citizenship. The frequently don’t run away because they fear deportation. They many even be unwilling to contact the authorities, believing the police may be as unsympathetic to their plight as those in South Asia.
Then there are communication problems. Transnational brides usually have nobody to turn to for support; many don’t speak English or know much about British society; some are even prevented by their husbands from meeting outsiders. One campaigner at a leading ethnic minority women’s group admitted that brides from South Asia were over-represented in cases referred to them.
This doesn't take into account those women who are too afraid to run away. Unfortunately not enough is said or done about gender related violence, while terrorism or racism continue to dominate the news. In too many cases where ethnic minorities are involved, social ills such as forced marriage, so-called honour killings, domestic violence and even rape are framed by self-appointed 'community leaders’ and even by the Government as problems of culture or religion. But the problem here isn’t culture or religion - it is the sexist attitude towards women that some people hold.This Government, instead of making small noises about deploring violence against women and not tolerating so-called honour killings, need to take firm steps in fully supporting such women if they face domestic abuse.
At present most victims face not only difficulty getting access to social support but also have to go to extraordinary lengths to prove they are genuine victims.The legislation also needs to change to put the naturalisation process into women’s hands, rather than that of their partners.
Last week the Commission for Integration and Cohesion said that new entrants to the UK should learn English. But teaching English is not just about integration. More important is that it is empowering. Most campaigners I spoke to agreed that language was a key barrier in learning more about British society and getting help. Translation services are part of this problem - taking away the women’s incentive to learn English, whether or not her husband lets her. Rather than funding these services the Government should phase them out while expanding ESOL (English for speakers of foreign languages) classes, which have miserably failed to keep up with demand.
In addition, we need greater self-reflection of the attitudes of many Asians who not only use culture or religion as a cover for controlling women, but also invoke “family honour” as a means to hide abuse underneath their very noses.
Activists who challenge these attitudes usually invite howls of protest from some government appointed community leader accusations of being “a traitor” for airing dirty laundry in public. But highlighting such social problems is not about tarring everyone with the same brush. It is about highlighting misogynistic attitudes that lead to many vunerable women being abused or abandoned every year.
Progressive voices from within the British Asian community and outside need to help and empower these brides as women, not simply ignore them as unfortunate victims of cultural attitudes.
Sunny Hundal
The Times, 26/02/2007
DOORS OPEN TO DEMENTIA AT POTTERDALE
A new support service for people living with dementia.
The Pot-a-tea@Potterdale café opened its doors for the first time on the 7th February with volunteers coming from a range of professional and non-professional backgrounds in order to provide this informal support network for professionals, carers and service users.
The café will run on the first Wednesday of each month between 2:00pm and 4:00pm.
Contact Julia Butterworth at Potterdale on 0113 270 8673 for further details.
LHC OPEN DAY
Come and visit LHC !
The open day will be held at LHC's Central Office, situated at:
4 Ashbrooke Business Park
Parkside Lane
Beeston
Leeds
LS11 5SF
The event starts at 10:00am and lasts until 4:00pm.
There will be a buffet lunch between 12:00 and 2:00pm and refreshments throughout the day.
Please contact us for more details.
The contact page also has a map showing how to get to Central Office.
COUNCIL ACCREDITATION
LHC awarded accreditation certificate by Leeds City Council.
The certificate states that Leeds City Council's Supporting People Team have accredited LHC in respect of the provision of accommodation based / floating / resettlement and outreach Supporting People Services for mentally disordered offenders, people with alcohol problems, people with drug problems, people with mental health problems, rough sleepers, refugees, single homeless with support needs, young people at risk and women at risk of domestic violence.
"IN THE INTEREST OF THE CHILD"
Jenn Bravo presents new study to audience of professionals and academics.
|
Today LHC's Jenn Bravo presented her research findings to an audience of academics professionals from the HSS sector at Leeds College of Music | |
|
Entitled "In the Interest of the Child", the study deals with how care professionals deal with black mothers and children who are experiencing domestic violence and whether their methods provide the best results for the children involved. Jenn's experience in this field at LHC and the Sahara refuge gives the study great authority and she asks a number of questions about how domestic violence is dealt with by staff and professionals. |
The research involved voluntary questionnaires and interviews with staff, professionals and women in Sahara in order to view the subject from a number of different perspectives. Many families in this situation find it hard to get help because on top of the domestic violence there is a fear of racism or the chance of having children taken into care and the study concludes by discussing the implications this research could have on future practice. |
2006 AGM
LHC holds its AGM.
LHC has strengthened its links with partner agencies. In particular we have seconded staff: Clare Hezelwood to CHIVA (the service for Children in Vulnerable Accommodation) and Karen Blakemore to DIP (the Drugs Intervention Programme).
Mention was made of LHC's involvement in the HB Forum, a forum that through shared communication has been instrumental in smoothing out the difficulties around HB payments and which shares current information that will impact on LHC's work.
Thanks were extended to Dave Vermond from the Young Persons Sector for his commitment to that group and his efficient and effective chairing of the meetings.
Also discussed was LHC's commitment to nurturing the personal and career development of all employees.
"Lots of NVQ training is going on and some at a very high level.
"We actively encouraged social work student placements. We like the fresh ideas they bring and also the fees. Our NVQ and student placement guru is Lesley Long and I thank her for her commitment and tenacity.
"We are proud to be a very diverse organisation in every sense of the concept but we intend to take that one step further. Joc Bass is heading up a new focus group Fairness in Action that will evaluate all aspects of our work. I look forward to sharing in that work in the new year."
Finally, LHC thanked each and every staff member who has contributed to the quality of life of its service users and yet another successful year for LHC.
SEACOLE LAUNCHES
LHC announces the launch of Seacole project.
LHC AGM
Sahara amalgamates with LHC.
LHC AGM
Large turnout for LHC's Annual General Meeting.
Keith Hearn chaired the meeting and dealt with the formal business whilst Janet Spencer thanked all the staff at LHC and LHC's Supervisory Board for their continued hard work and dedication after providing a complete rundown of the year's progress, most notably the acceptance by the Charities Commision of the merger with the Sahara Black Women's Refuge, which will now be part of LHC rather than a separate entity.
Guests also heard from two service users whose lives have changed for the better by participation in LHC schemes.
The One in Four Theatre Company then presented "Scarred", a piece based upon real life experiences, which deals with issues around self-harm. Their powerful mix of physical theatre, monologues, dance, voice and music provoked a great deal of thought and was the main topic of discussion throughout the event's closing buffet. You can find more about One in Four by visiting their website.
MORE THAN 100,000 CHILDREN STUCK IN B&Bs
More than 116,000 children will spend Christmas in hostels or bed and breakfasts, a charity warned today, as the number of homeless families in temporary accommodation reaches a record high.
The director of the housing charity Shelter, Adam Sampson, called on the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, to act to rescue families from the "miserable cycle of temporary accommodation".
Mr. Sampson said: "It is a scandal that 100,000 households, many of them families with children, are now facing Christmas in temporary accommodation, with devastating effects on their health, education and future prospects.
"The government's own reports show that if it is serious about tackling child poverty and social exclusion, it must do more to get homeless households out of temporary accommodation.
An ODPM spokesman said more than 80% of households in temporary accommodation were in good-quality, self-contained housing with washing and cooking facilities.
He added: "We have reduced the use of bed and breakfast hotels for families with kids for more than six weeks by 94%."
A Shelter report published earlier this month found that more than half of those forced to live in temporary accommodation said their family's health had suffered as a result.
More than three-quarters said they had a specific health problem, and half said they were suffering from depression.
Their children had missed an average of 55 school days due to the disruption of moving between temporary accommodation, the
Shelter added that the high cost of properties was also preventing low-income families from ever entering the housing market.
Professor Danny Dorling, the report's author, said: "Our research reveals that children born into the poorest households in 2004 are now far less able than previous generations to escape poverty.
"In other words, housing is taking us back towards the deep social divisions of Victorian society - a moment in history than no one wants to see repeated."
Last week, the government confirmed that it was looking to redefine homelessness to distinguish between those in temporary accommodation and those sleeping rough.
This came as it emerged that the number of homeless families forced into emergency accommodation had topped 100,000 for the first time ever.
A RUSE BY ANY OTHER NAME
Government obfuscation over homeless numbers and definitions is distracting attention from the point: that it must do something about the shocking rise in the number of homeless households.
The number of homeless families forced into emergency accommodation has topped 100,000 for the first time ever. This is difficult to explain away for ministers who like to rattle off statistics showing progress, especially when it involves social exclusion.
Nevertheless the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, and his colleagues attempted to claim that the situation was not as bad as it seemed.
"This is not a Cathy Come Home situation," Mr Prescott told listeners to the BBC's Today radio programme, referring to the 1966 Ken Loach-directed documentary drama.
He added: "Now homelessness is not about people living on the street, basically what it means is they don't have a settled arrangement."
These statements don't square - the trauma of unsettled living arrangements was exactly what was so graphically illustrated by Cathy Come Home.
The next day, Lord Rooker, the minister responsible for homelessness, confirmed that the government was looking to redefine homelessness to avoid the confusion between those in temporary accommodation and those sleeping rough.
He insisted to a committee of MPs that the government was not trying to hide the problem by changing the definition. Since he said this at least four times, observers may have had the feeling that he was protesting too much.
Many members of the public may think that homelessness is only about people sleeping rough, but for decades the accepted official definition has always also involved the much larger group in temporary emergency accommodation.
As demand for homes is likely to continue to outstrip supply, the numbers in temporary homes are set to get even worse. You don't have to be a cynic to see why the government is interested in redefining the problem.
But what Lord Rooker went on to say was more convincing. He pointed out that councils were helping more homeless families partly because the criteria for those qualifying as a priority for housing have been widened to include groups such as care leavers and ex-offenders.
"We have created a rod for our own back," the minister said.
Charities like Shelter had campaigned vigorously for the priority need groups to be extended. In this context it is therefore a bit churlish for them to castigate the government for the rising figures.
Lord Rooker dismissed both figures as "fanciful" and added: "the grand total is not known".
There is a danger that debates about figures plucked out of the air distract from the main issue. The rising number of homeless households is shocking enough.
And the figures cannot be explained only by widening the groups that qualify for priority housing.
As the economist Kate Barker warned the government earlier this year, unless more affordable housing is built, homelessness and social division will increase.
Lord Rooker promised that 75,000 new affordable homes will be built over the next spending round. This is significantly less than Ms Barker recommended.
Just as worrying is that the bulk of these homes will be built in growth areas like the Thames Gateway. These are going to be little use for vulnerable families in inner-London where the homeless problem is worst.
By Matt Weaver
BUDGET CUTS THREATEN HOMLESS HOSTELS
Council staff protest as Leeds shelters face near-certain closure
Photograph: Mike Simmonds / Guzelian
The logbook kept by emergency homeless workers in one of the north's largest cities is a litany of near-catastrophe - desperate people threatening suicide or self-harm, plus a catalogue of lost keys, vanishing plumbers and other hassles for clients moved into private sector rents.
But all these pale beside the latest challenge to the teams which tackle the plight of young people bullied out of family homes, women fleeing violent partners and drug or alcohol casualties who can't cope: two out of Leeds' five council-run homeless hostels are threatened by the government's relentless financial squeeze.
The hostels' staff were out in the cold in front of the Civic Hall yesterday with their placards,
in an attempt to get the closure proposals stalled or sent for checking by a backbench scrutiny committee.
But although new homeless people are registering in the city at the rate of roughly one a day, financial pressure on the council, the NHS and probation staff - who jointly run local homeless provision - makes the closure almost inevitable.
Only last week the coalition of Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Greens which prised the council from Labour's 20-year grip in June revealed an expected £16m shortfall in this year's social services budget.
The homelessness crisis involves a different budget, but carries equally frightening implications for one of the city's most vulnerable groups, according to hostel staff. Leeds, whose long and honourable provision goes back to the creation of the pioneering St George's Crypt shelter in the 1930s, faces losing carefully built-up expertise, according to Leon Kirkham of the public service union Unison.
The hostels at risk are St Michael's Lane, which offers a haven for homeless women, and Prospect House, which does the same for 16- to 24-year-olds. A report to the city council singles them out to meet government-imposed efficiency savings of 2.5% this year and between 2.5% and 7.5% in 2005-06.
The two hostels, which have 27 emergency beds between them, are "too small to have any economies of scale", says the report, which concludes that £1.1m would be saved by their closure.
"The council's own figures show what's wrong," said Mr Kirkham. "They say that bed space at the two hostels costs, respectively, £664 and £793 a week, and that replacement provision - through beds provided by English Church Housing hostels - would be only £112.
But although new homeless people are registering in the city at the rate of roughly one a day, financial pressure on the council, the NHS and probation staff - who jointly run local homeless provision - makes the closure almost inevitable.
Only last week the coalition of Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Greens which prised the council from Labour's 20-year grip in June revealed an expected £16m shortfall in this year's social services budget.
The homelessness crisis involves a different budget, but carries equally frightening implications for one of the city's most vulnerable groups, according to hostel staff. Leeds, whose long and honourable provision goes back to the creation of the pioneering St George's Crypt shelter in the 1930s, faces losing carefully built-up expertise, according to Leon Kirkham of the public service union Unison.
The hostels at risk are St Michael's Lane, which offers a haven for homeless women, and Prospect House, which does the same for 16- to 24-year-olds. A report to the city council singles them out to meet government-imposed efficiency savings of 2.5% this year and between 2.5% and 7.5% in 2005-06.
The two hostels, which have 27 emergency beds between them, are "too small to have any economies of scale", says the report, which concludes that £1.1m would be saved by their closure.
"The council's own figures show what's wrong," said Mr Kirkham. "They say that bed space at the two hostels costs, respectively, £664 and £793 a week, and that replacement provision - through beds provided by English Church Housing hostels - would be only £112.
"I find it incredible. How can homeless care be done that cheaply? The council does add that the ECH cost would rise if the transfer goes ahead, but that should worry everyone too. It's completely vague - no estimate of how much the rise would be."
The hostel staff fear that replacement care could become like the provision reflected in their emergency log - and cases of completely counter-productive accommodation organised for homeless people outside the council's own care. "It's hard to put a value on the dedicated, 24-hour care provided by staff at the two hostels under threat," Mr Kirkham said.
Leeds is determined to go ahead, however, and the local Supporting People system - the consortium of councils, probation staff and the NHS which runs homeless provision - believes that its £3.5m budget could be better spent.
"Our proposals will maintain the current number of emergency places for homeless families and individuals in Leeds," said Les Carter, the council's executive member for housing. "But currently the emergency accommodation we provide is at the expense of other areas of homeless support and accommodation.
"The money we save by closing two small and expensive hostels will be used to help prevent people in difficulties becoming homeless in the first place, and to help find long term accommodation for people already homeless."
Martin Wainwright
The Guardian
The hostel staff fear that replacement care could become like the provision reflected in their emergency log - and cases of completely counter-productive accommodation organised for homeless people outside the council's own care. "It's hard to put a value on the dedicated, 24-hour care provided by staff at the two hostels under threat," Mr Kirkham said.
Leeds is determined to go ahead, however, and the local Supporting People system - the consortium of councils, probation staff and the NHS which runs homeless provision - believes that its £3.5m budget could be better spent.
"Our proposals will maintain the current number of emergency places for homeless families and individuals in Leeds," said Les Carter, the council's executive member for housing. "But currently the emergency accommodation we provide is at the expense of other areas of homeless support and accommodation.
"The money we save by closing two small and expensive hostels will be used to help prevent people in difficulties becoming homeless in the first place, and to help find long term accommodation for people already homeless."
Martin Wainwright
The Guardian
GREY AREA
The common perception is that it is mainly younger people who end up living on the streets. But almost a quarter of homeless people in the UK are over 50, according to a new survey.
Edwin Linton's wrinkled face tells its own story of a hard, tormented life. He joined the Scots Guards at 16. He served in Northern Ireland, where his best mate was killed by a booby-trap bomb. He was posted to war zones in Aden and north Africa. He rose to the rank of regimental sergeant-major, but was kicked out without a pension after 17 years due to chronic alcoholism.
Now 60, Linton retains the upright posture of an RSM as he recalls his fall from grace. "In the end, I was useless," he admits. "I had to have a drink with me all the time. I even had a small bottle of Glenfiddich hidden in my bearskin when I was on parade with the colonel-in-chief, the Duke of Kent."
Linton has been living on the streets for nearly 30 years. According to what the St Mungo's charity claims is the biggest ever survey of the lives and problems of homeless people, Linton is one of a grey army of older people living on the margins of society. The survey, published today, reveals that almost a quarter of the homeless people on the streets are over 50; a third have been on the streets for up to five years, and 17% for 10 years or more.
The most shocking illustration of the degree of isolation for so many of this group is that three-quarters of the 1,372 people surveyed said they had no next of kin, and 22% of those who said they had kin named someone unrelated, such as a priest or social worker.
Linton describes himself as a "fortunate failure". After the regiment booted him out, he headed for London. "I got no help when I left the army," he says. "They just said: 'You're unable to do your job - you're out.' At the time, London to me was the City of Gold and I was going to make a fortune, buy a gold Rolls-Royce and show those bastards ...but the drink took over."
Although he had a wife and daughter in Scotland, he ended up wrapped in cardboard on the Embankment. "I was drinking anything and everything: meths, petrol, hair spray, even boot polish - you can melt it down and drink it. We used to get our benefit money in cash and, woosh, it was gone on drink. And then we used to live on handouts, soup kitchens, night shelters, you name it."
Now 60, Linton retains the upright posture of an RSM as he recalls his fall from grace. "In the end, I was useless," he admits. "I had to have a drink with me all the time. I even had a small bottle of Glenfiddich hidden in my bearskin when I was on parade with the colonel-in-chief, the Duke of Kent."
Linton has been living on the streets for nearly 30 years. According to what the St Mungo's charity claims is the biggest ever survey of the lives and problems of homeless people, Linton is one of a grey army of older people living on the margins of society. The survey, published today, reveals that almost a quarter of the homeless people on the streets are over 50; a third have been on the streets for up to five years, and 17% for 10 years or more.
The most shocking illustration of the degree of isolation for so many of this group is that three-quarters of the 1,372 people surveyed said they had no next of kin, and 22% of those who said they had kin named someone unrelated, such as a priest or social worker.
Linton describes himself as a "fortunate failure". After the regiment booted him out, he headed for London. "I got no help when I left the army," he says. "They just said: 'You're unable to do your job - you're out.' At the time, London to me was the City of Gold and I was going to make a fortune, buy a gold Rolls-Royce and show those bastards ...but the drink took over."
Although he had a wife and daughter in Scotland, he ended up wrapped in cardboard on the Embankment. "I was drinking anything and everything: meths, petrol, hair spray, even boot polish - you can melt it down and drink it. We used to get our benefit money in cash and, woosh, it was gone on drink. And then we used to live on handouts, soup kitchens, night shelters, you name it."
Linton says he stopped drinking four years ago. "I was sitting around with the blokes - I had a bottle of Glenfiddich, nothing but the best - when I just had a thought: 'I don't need this.' I smashed it against the wall and said: 'See you lads, I'm off.' They all laughed and said I would be back, but that was the last drink I ever took."
He feels strongly that the army should do more for its cast-offs. "It was all my own fault, I was an idiot," he admits. "But when you leave the army, you leave a family, food, friends, home, routine, everything. They should do more to make the switch [to civilian life] easier."
Tony Brown, 50, recalls that he was living in a cupboard on the Aylesbury estate, a vast dystopia of concrete walkways and urine-soaked stairwells just off the Old Kent Road in south London, when he was discovered by police hunting a rapist. He says: "I gave this sergeant the shock of his life, but they came back a bit later with sandwiches and coffee, which they don't usually do. I was in a bit of a state. I was dossing down anywhere, really."
Previously he was a musician and publican who spent much of his life on the road, which resulted in the end of his marriage. "She thought I was playing away when I was playing away, but nothing was further from the truth," he says.
Divorce, a life on the road, and a serious cigarette habit took its toll. Brown has had two mild strokes and a series of heart attacks. He also had a nervous breakdown and lost his pubs. "Because I used to own pubs, I was sort of used by some people with colourful pasts who wanted to own pubs as well. I would register as the licensee because I don't have a criminal record, and they would let me stay and work there."
Charles Fraser, the chief executive of St Mungo's, says the survey results show that homelessness is not something that just affects young people; older people have specific needs that are not being met. "We have people in our projects who have been on the streets an awfully long time," he says. "There has been some progress in helping them, but it's patchy. Thankfully, all local authorities have homelessness strategies, but it's not enough for them to be nicely bound on a shelf. We want to see them in action."
Fraser says access to basic healthcare - chiropody, dentistry and ophthalmology - and specialist respiratory nursing is patchy. "We aren't talking about access to a neurosurgeon," he says. "In a lot of cases, homeless people don't even know if their local GP's list is closed."
Since August, Linton has been in a 41-bed St Mungo's hostel just under the A40 Westway flyover in west London. He is hoping to move into a flat of his own soon, works as a volunteer with Crisis, and has ambitions to start a candle-making business.
Fraser says the hostel can only provide respite. "Our hostel does great work, but it's not designed for long-term living - for that you really need places where health and social services are built into the equation."
St Mungo's has been told to expect a cold and busy winter. Its work will be made harder because a shortage of funds means that by next month, just in time for Christmas, it expects to have closed down its unique outreach service for older people.
St Mungo's 50:50 campaign launches today. Details: www.mungos.org
Mark Gould
The Guardian
52,000 YOUTHS HAVE NOWHERE TO LIVE, STUDY FINDS
The extent of homelessness among 16 to 24-year-olds in England is revealed for the first time today in research from York University showing that up to 52,000 were without housing last year.
Ministers have so far refused to produce official figures of youth homelessness, but the charity Centrepoint commissioned the centre for housing policy at York University to assemble the evidence.
It found that there were between 36,000 and 52,000 young people aged 16 to 24 who satisfied the strict conditions used by local authorities to define homelessness last year.
The charity said risk factors that could trigger homelessness among young people included unemployment, family disruption after the age of three and the experience of living with a step parent.
The chief executive of Centrepoint, Anthony Lawton, said the research corroborated the experience of the charity's staff working with young people in London and more than 90 councils across England.
"We intend to work closely with the government and others nationally to measure the prevalence of youth homelessness for appropriate planning and support in health, education and housing needs."
Mr Prescott said the government would carry out a major survey of homeless households next year, including an investigation of the experiences of 16-17 year olds.
John Carvel, Social Affairs Editor
The Guardian
HOMELESSNESS SOARS IN BLACK AND ASIAN COMMUNITIES
Homelessness has risen twice as fast among ethnic minority households as among the population as a whole since Labour took power, according to a report published today by a leading housing charity.
The extent of the gulf suggests that its causes go beyond the economic disadvantage suffered by many ethnic minority communities. Shelter says more research is needed but suggests that factors include a lack of suitable accommodation for larger families, the failure of service providers to consider issues such as racial harassment, and potential discrimination by housing workers.
Homelessness increased by 77% among ethnic minority households compared with 34% among the general population between 1997 and this year. The African Caribbean population has been particularly badly hit, with homelessness rising by 89%.
In total, 30,000 ethnic minority households were homeless during 2003-04. They accounted for 20% of the families accepted as homeless by local authorities, even though they form only 7% of families throughout the UK.
"There is a massive under-supply of affordable, quality housing for the poorest in our society. The number of homeless people in this country has doubled since Labour came to power and the length of time people are in emergency housing has more than doubled.
"The connection between bad housing and poor health, educational and behavioural outcomes means we are seeing another generation of children having their futures wrecked and being further locked into a cycle of deprivation."
Mr Sampson said ethnic minority households often faced problems which others might not. Those from cultures with a tradition of living as an extended family could find housing providers did not accept their need to do so, or simply did not have large enough homes available.
The study suggests an increase in asylum applications since 1997, may have contributed to rising homelessness.
Asylum seekers are not allowed to work or claim mainstream benefits while their claims are processed, but once granted refugee status or leave to remain, have only weeks to find their own accommodation before eviction.
A spokeswoman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said the government had asked local authorities to provide figures on the ethnicity of those accepted as homeless. She added: "The government has also commissioned research into the underlying causes of homelessness among black and minority ethnic groups, and ways to improve the effectiveness of services to directly meet people's needs."
Tania Branigan
The Guardian
The number of homeless families in Britain is set to hit 100,000 for the first time, more than double the figure when Labour came to power.
According to the homeless charity Shelter, the number of families in temporary accommodation, the standard definition of homelessness, will hit 100,000 before the end of the year. The figure compares with 41,250 families who were registered homeless in March 1997, shortly before Labour took office.
Official figures also show the average length of stay in temporary accommodation has increased from 98 days to 267, while in London it has tripled from 91 days to 381.
A recent report by Shelter estimated that housing homeless people in temporary accommodation costs taxpayers £500 million in higher rents and additional benefit costs. In addition, those being housed in temporary accommodation are more likely to suffer health and social problems..
Statistics show over half of people classed as homeless believe their health has suffered due to living in temporary accommodation while nearly 50 per cent of children have suffered depression
The Treasury has set a target for a further 10,000 affordable homes to be built each year - a 50 per cent increase on the current situation - from 2008. The move, which will see an extra £430m a year channelled into building low cost homes, has been seen as a tacit acknowledgment by the Government that expanding affordable housing stock requires long-term investment and must take a central role in policy making.
Campaign groups last night welcomed the Government's increased spending commitments, saying a significant investment in affordable housing stock was a key plank in the strategy needed to tackle homelessness.
However they warned the targets did not go far enough. The recent Barker Review into Britain's housing market concluded that up to 23,000 new homes needed to be built each year to eradicate homelessness.
Adam Sampson, Director of Shelter, said: 'The Government's investment of 10,000 extra social homes a year by 2008 is welcome, but with tens of thousands of children suffering in temporary accommodation today and more than one million children growing up in bad housing in Britain, there is clearly much more to be done.'
The spokesperson also pointed out that other initiatives needed to be examined, including ways to tackle violence within the home. Statistics show the majority of people who end up homeless are fleeing a violent relationship.
Jamie Doward, Social Affairs Editor
The Observer
380,000 HOMELESS 'GOING UNRECORDED'
The housing shortage in Britain means that some 380,000 single people are effectively homeless without being officially classified as such, the charity Crisis said today.
Unlike rough sleepers, the hidden homeless were not systematically counted by the authorities and rarely registered in the housing policy debate.
Crisis said: "Many are struggling with problems such as unemployment, family breakdown, mental ill-health and substance abuse. With the right support they could overcome these, but all too often they are left to cope alone ...
"In an era of official audits on everything from health and poverty and recycling, it seems scandalous that there are no official figures for the number of hidden homeless people living in Britain today."
It included about 75,000 single people in bed and breakfast accommodation or hostels, 10,000 squatters, up to 220,000 sharing overcrowded accommodation with family or friends, and up to 70,000 living on sufferance in a home where the head of the household would prefer them not to be there. Adding those at imminent risk of eviction brought the total to 380,000.
The charity estimated the problem of hidden homelessness could cost Britain about £1.4bn. About half of this was due to the costs of housing benefit and charges for accommodation met by the state.
The rest was due to lost income and taxes from people whose lack of a home made it harder to hold down a job.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said the government did not accept the charity's figures. It had found that there were 97,290 homeless households living in temporary accommodation.
"There may be wider groups of people who experience homelessness at some point in their lives but who do not turn to local authorities for help -possibly because they do not think of themselves as being homeless or inadequately housed," it said.
John Carvel, Social Affairs Editor
The Guardian
I SLEPT ROUGH, BUT COULDN'T POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS TO BE HOMELESS
Ruth Hill joins a controversial group which promises spiritual enlightenment but which angers the destitute and the charities that try to help them
I had inveigled my way, through an assumed name, on to Britain's first-ever street retreat, a new concept of spiritual journey that is being welcomed with open arms by the UK's growing Zen community.
According to the Peacemaker Circle International Community, the transatlantic organisation that has imported the idea, street retreats are a way of 'experiencing the miracles of life that arise when we no longer attach to our comforts and patterns and our stuff.
'Unpredictable and free, this is an opportunity to retreat in a real sense, within and without - to retreat to what is right here, right now - in challenging conditions,' they insist.
'A street retreat is a plunge into the unknown. It's an exercise in bearing witness to the joy and pain of the universe. A glimpse of living on the edge of creation. A powerful one.'
It is also a quick way of parting with £150 - two-thirds of which is apparently given to the homeless services the group encounters on their journey, with the rest going to the 'social action missions' of the Peacemaker Community.
Those willing to part with the cash are given detailed lists on how to prepare for the three-day adventure, including not washing your hair or shaving for five days and not bringing a change of clothes, money, watches, books, bedding or other conveniences.
We are also told to prepare ourselves for begging. 'Scary stuff,' Morris Marshall of the community conceded. 'Asking and begging for money has many cultural taboos associated with it. Taking a look at our issues around begging and our deep conditioning about who the homeless are is a large part of what street retreats are about.'
Marshall has advice on how to beg and advised that when asking for money we should pay close attention to 'what we are experiencing and what the other person is doing in response. Don't discriminate,' he added. 'Ask everyone.'
The final instruction is when and where to gather, and how to recognise Senso Grover Genro Gauntt, leader of over a dozen street retreats in America. 'Genro will be easily recognisable: a tall, handsome, Californian surfboard-riding type, always laughing and full of fun, with silver- white hair,' Marshall boasted. The group comprised an Anglican priest, a psychologist, a psychotherapist, a writer, an Italian teacher, a nurse, an acupuncture practitioner and a housewife. Women outnumber men by six to two and the average age is around 40. People are nervous but Genro, as promised, is avuncular.
And so we begin. We walk across Trafalgar Square and down to St James's Park, where we sit in a circle and meditate for half an hour on the lawn opposite Buckingham Palace.
Afterwards Genro beamed at us. 'Thank you for taking the opportunity to bear witness to the streets,' he said. 'Your courage is to be commended.'
We pass around Genro's Native Americanesque Zen necklace of wood and turquoise to indicate who has the floor, balancing it on his baseball cap in the middle of the group when no one feels moved to talk.
People wondered openly why they are here, generally explaining their desire to come as an attempt to defeat the fear they felt when confronted with the idea of being homeless for three days.
Genro nodded quietly throughout, smiling gently, then pulled out a letter he had received from the Metropolitan Police's Street Crime Unit. 'I thought I should share this with you,' he murmured.
The letter is from Inspector Malcolm Bernard, head of the unit, who pleads with Genro to abandon the retreat, spelling out how dangerous the homeless lifestyle can be and offering both to meet with Genro and to organise introductions to street charities and homeless people in a safer environment.
Genro chuckled. 'He can't possibly know who we are or what we do or how we do it,' he said. 'The police really don't know what our work is; they have assumed and projected.'
He has, however, taken notice of Bernard's warning that begging is illegal and that if we are seen asking for money we will be arrested, charged and given a criminal record. 'I won't ask you to beg,' Genro conceded sadly. 'There are other ways to get money.'
Bernard adds in his letter that he has spoken to local charities and their homeless clients about the retreat. 'The vast majority are horrified and insulted by your course and understandably most view it as some form of grotesque tourism,' he writes.
Genro folded the letter away with disdain. 'The charities that protested had a police dog-collar on,' he said. 'It's all in how the police asked the question. I have never come across any objections among the homeless people I meet. They are all delighted that we are attempting to understand their lives.'
People had more questions but Genro wound up the discussion: he has heard of soup kitchens in Lincoln's Inn Fields and thinks it is a good place to get supper.
Some members of the group expressed concern about taking food intended for the genuine homeless. Genro nodded with understanding. 'I have never seen one of these soup kitchens that doesn't have food left at the end of the night,' he said, already walking off. 'But by all means, don't eat if it makes you uncomfortable.'
We meandered up to Lincoln's Inn Fields, where a large group of homeless people were queueing peacefully behind a large black estate car handing out curried rice and potatoes followed by apples and orange squash.
Holding polystyrene cups of tea, our pockets stuffed with apples and sandwiches intended for the homeless, we decide it is time to find somewhere to spend the night.
When preparing for this retreat, we were strictly warned against bringing sleeping bags or blankets. At most, we were allowed a plastic sheet to lie on.
Strolling along, slightly behind the rest of the group, with a peaceful smile on his lips, Genro deigned to give no advice on how we should be preparing ourselves for the night ahead.
Some of us (including me, to my shame) took one of the blankets handed out at Lincoln's Inn Fields, depriving a genuinely homeless person of its warmth, others picked up cardboard boxes from doorways as we passed.
'What the fuck are you doing?' they exclaimed as our large group invaded their space. We explain we are on a street retreat. 'You must be bonkers,' said Peter, a middle-aged, well-educated former IT specialist who lost his job and then his house after suffering a nervous breakdown.
'I don't see the point of you doing this on any level,' he said with politely contained rage. 'What are you going to learn that you don't know already - that's it's horrible being homeless?'
His friend, a former geriatric nurse who also lost his job and his home through ill health, agreed. 'You won't get the slightest idea of what it's like by just doing it for two nights, but if anyone does such a ridiculous exercise it should be John Prescott or Tony Blair,' he said.
Our presence makes the group nervous. Peter makes us promise to make sure we leave no rubbish behind us in the morning, otherwise the building managers will realise they sleep there and force them to move on.
Another man, returning late to his bed, wondered aloud whether we were a group of religious nutcases who will murder him in his sleep. His friend asked why we have come in summer. 'If you really care about sharing our pain,' he pointed out mockingly, 'why didn't you come in the middle of winter?'
I spread my plastic sheet on the floor and we bedded down. A homeless man pissed loudly into the stairway a few feet away and I lay, trying to ignore the stench, and wondering whether I would have a searing realisation of the point of it all if I stayed until the end of