{"id":9717,"date":"2021-05-29T00:24:53","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T23:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9717"},"modified":"2021-05-29T00:26:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T23:26:53","slug":"homelessness-and-rough-sleeping-the-sad-end-of-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9717","title":{"rendered":"Homelessness and Rough Sleeping – The Sad End Of Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOMELESSNESS AND ROUGH SLEEPING – THE SAD END OF SOCIETY<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

It is all too common a sight to see people sleeping rough on the streets of Cardiff. Our first thoughts are usually of compassion and charity. I remember travelling back from London by train one winter evening and as I left Cardiff Central station on foot it was dark and raining. I passed a young, girl on the pavement who was wet and crying, and my social conscience nagged at me. That prompted me to visit the Huggard centre for rough sleepers. It is run by Cardiff Council and situated at the back of the station, and I soon realised the immense scale of the problem.<\/p>\n

Before the pandemic, the number in England alone was over 219,000. During the Coronavirus pandemic there has been a reported rise of 150% in people seeking emergency accommodation. In Wales each year, 2,900 people sleep rough. However, rough sleepers account for just 7% of the total number of those experiencing homelessness. Many are sofa surfing, sleeping in their cars or in places such as storage units.<\/p>\n

It is important to know that in Wales, we are fortunate that our government, unlike England, has made the bold commitment to housing everyone experiencing homelessness. This means all Local Authorities in Wales, have a duty to house people experiencing homelessness. However, while the ambition is good, the reality is more problematic. Firstly, there is a housing crisis in Wales, specifically there are not enough affordable homes. Furthermore, the complex reasons which cause people to become homeless mean it can be very difficult for individuals to access services.<\/p>\n

People become homeless for lots of different reasons, such as when they leave prison, hospital, the care system, or the army with no home to go to. Many women experiencing homelessness have escaped a violent or abusive relationship. However, there is often a common link between the underlying causes of these situations.<\/p>\n

The link is difficult events in our childhood, now referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences, which can have a lifelong effect on our lives. Research undertaken by Public Health Wales has<\/p>\n

shown that being raised in a home where there are problems such as domestic abuse, neglect, violence or use of drugs, results in excessive and prolonged stress on children during their early, formative years. Crucially, when four of more of these problems occur within a household the prolonged exposure to stress changes the development of a child\u2019s brain and immune system changing their prospects, including detrimental impacts on mental health, increased likelihood of chronic disease and early death, and higher probability of engaging in health harming behaviour, such as alcohol addiction.<\/p>\n

And, for those who experience four or more of these problems in their childhood, they are 16 times more likely to experience homelessness.<\/p>\n

There are several charities in Wales who work to alleviate homelessness and rough sleeping and I am raising money for Housing Justice Cymru. They mobilise faith and community groups to take action on homelessness and housing need. Sponsored by the Church in Wales, they are a small, highly influential charity. Their work makes a huge difference to thousands of people across the country, through their volunteer led projects which help people experiencing homelessness, either through night shelters, hosting projects or their Citadel project, which helps people to find and sustain a tenancy. Housing Justice Cymru also helps Churches with derelict land and buildings to sell their assets to enable the building of affordable housing, helping to address the housing crisis in Wales.<\/p>\n

\"\"If you see someone sleeping rough – <\/strong>Be Kind, establish a human connection by making eye contact and smiling. Crouch down to somebody\u2019s level if they are sat down. Ask them how they are doing and if there\u2019s anything you can help them with.<\/p>\n

Getting Involved <\/strong>– If you want to volunteer, contact the Wales Council for Voluntary Action or Housing Justice Cymru.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOMELESSNESS AND ROUGH SLEEPING – THE SAD END OF SOCIETY It is all too common a sight to see people sleeping rough on the streets of Cardiff. Our first thoughts are usually of compassion and charity. I remember travelling back from London by train one winter evening and as I left Cardiff Central station on foot it was dark and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[334],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-2wJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13204,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13204","url_meta":{"origin":9717,"position":0},"title":"SILVER FOX OUTING – No 1: 25 May, 23","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd July 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"SILVER FOX OUTING - No 1: 25 May, 23 \u00a0 The outing was suggested and planned by Iain Pate. It was a highly successful trip and early indications are that Iain will organise another day-out. There were 10 foxes and one vixen, all proudly waving a Senior Rail Card. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Readers Articles of Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Readers Articles of Interest","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=228"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Picture9.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Picture9.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Picture9.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Picture9.png?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10270,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10270","url_meta":{"origin":9717,"position":1},"title":"Training For Settling In Canada","author":"Alan Williams","date":"18th September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 TRAINING FOR SETTLING IN CANADA Ex-service men\u2019s centre near Cardiff For the second year in succession a number of ex-service men and their families are undergoing training at the British Legion Emigration Training Centre at Wenvoe Grange, near Cardiff. On completion of the course, which will last several weeks,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Picture10-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13705,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13705","url_meta":{"origin":9717,"position":2},"title":"Cardiff And The Bute Family","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st October 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 CARDIFF AND THE BUTE FAMILY \u00a0 Anyone living in the Cardiff area will have heard the word Bute. It is associated with many areas such as Bute Docks, Bute Street, Bute Park and many more. But how many of us know where the Bute family came from and how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reader's Travel Tales"","block_context":{"text":"Reader's Travel Tales","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=125"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Mount-stuart.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11871,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11871","url_meta":{"origin":9717,"position":3},"title":"Seventy Years Of Wenvoe In Transit","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"FORWARD OR BACK?: SEVENTY YEARS OF WENVOE IN TRANSIT Recent weeks have seen the celebration of the Queen\u2019s platinum jubilee, including a great display of local memorabilia organised by Mike and Glenys Tucker, which together with the Barry Festival of Transport gave me food for thought on the changes in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Picture8.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Picture8.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Picture8.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11613,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11613","url_meta":{"origin":9717,"position":4},"title":"Dogs Trail Cardiff With Snoopy","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th May 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"DOGS TRAIL CARDIFF WITH SNOOPY To celebrate Dog\u2019s Trust\u2019s new rehoming centre coming to Cardiff. A Dog\u2019s Trail is a spectacular, free public art trail that runs from 8th April \u2013 5th June. For 8 weeks the streets of Cardiff, Cardiff Bay, Caerphilly and Porthcawl are home to a series\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Event Notices"","block_context":{"text":"Event Notices","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=237"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Picture10-210x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4576,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4576","url_meta":{"origin":9717,"position":5},"title":"SS WENVOE \u2013 A STORY OF BRAVERY AND TRAGEDY","author":"Alan Williams","date":"26th May 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"SS WENVOE \u2013 A STORY OF BRAVERY AND TRAGEDY \u00a0 The 2,979 tonnes merchant steamer the SS Wenvoe was built in 1894 by the Gray Company of Hartlepool and owned by a prominent Cardiff shipping family, the Morels. Ships like the SS Wenvoe, which were used to transport a variety\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe History Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe History Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9717"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9717"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9720,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9717\/revisions\/9720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}