On November 29, the Mayor of London activated the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol due to sub-zero degrees, which means it is in effect in Greenwich.
The severe weather emergency protocol is a plan the government set for when the temperature reaches below zero. It is intended to help rough sleepers and give them a place to sleep.
With the rise of homelessness in London and Greenwich, the low temperature is becoming an increasing problem Greenwich borough faces.
This has become a growing problem in recent years, according to Jas Sahota, 55, head of operations and community relations manager at Woolwich Service User Project, who counted 38 rough sleepers in Greenwich on the night of December 9.
“I must say they are doing the best they can with the resources they have. It’s not like they don’t care, but their hands are tied,”
Sahota said.
Woolwich Service User Project is a place where people who are experiencing Homelessness can get clothes, a warm meal, get laundry done, or you can have a shower.
As a part of a program, the Woolwich Service User Project has started hiring art teachers to teach the users of this service art to cope with life as rough sleepers.
Jonathan Laniyan, 55, has been homeless for roughly half a year, and he says since he has no address, nobody calls him back for a job interview.
When Laniyan is not at the library or his friend’s place, he sleeps at the Ambulatory Medical Assessment Area, where he says he is being “bullied” by the guards. Laniyan says he is being thrown out and verbally abused by the guards at the AMAA.
Sahota reveals a startling statistic: 30,000 families are waiting for housing, while only 1,000 families are accommodated. This massive contrast highlights the severity of the housing crisis in Greenwich.
“There is no space left.”
Laniyan said.
According to Trust for London, there were 105 homeless people in Greenwich in 2021/2022. In 2022/2021, we saw an increase of 91 to 196 homeless people.
According to Public Health England, 105 homeless people were living on the streets observed by outreach workers in Greenwich in 2019. The Runnymede report states there was a significant difference in the numbers of homeless people based on race.
In 2018, there were 50 accepted homeless people in Greenwich compared to the London average of 40. Of the 90 in 2018, 20 were white. In 2014, these numbers were about half of the latest report from 2018.
The Woolwich Service User Project can see that the council is trying to help the people on the streets, but the lack of funding results in people falling through the cracks.
The Runnymede report states that the right to buy makes it harder for the council to buy property to create council houses.
According to the Royal borough of Greenwich, Greenwich Council is the 50th most deprived local authority out of the 326 in England. The council is the 20 out of 33 most deprived local authorities in London.
