LONDON’s business leaders are being urged to brave the cold to help tackle the capital’s “heartbreaking” homelessness problem.
The number of Londoners sleeping rough has almost doubled in the past decade, with the cost-of-living crisis only pouring fuel on the fire.
As such, the third annual CEO Sleepout is being held on November 20 at the home of cricket, Lord’s.
Business leaders and CEOs will be asked to sleep out for the night at the iconic ground to raise money for London-based homelessness charities and to raise awareness around the issue.
“The price of housing in London – whether to buy or rent – is never far from the headlines, and that’s reflected in the city’s homelessness figures,” said CEO Sleepout chief executive Bianca Robinson.
“The latest Shelter figures show that one in every 58 people in London are either sleeping on the streets or in temporary, council-allocated accommodation.
“To put that into perspective that’s 150,742 people – more than the population of St Albans – which is completely unacceptable.
“Business leaders have the power, opportunity and responsibility to ensure they are active within communities and play a role in strengthening the fabric of society. This event is a chance for them to take leadership and make a stand against inequality.”
Launched in 2013, CEO Sleepout has raised almost £4m to date for charities and good causes helping to tackle Britain’s homelessness problem.
This year, the London event will aid a dozen good causes across the city. One is Depaul UK, which aims to end youth homelessness – a problem that’s sadly only getting worse.
“The cost-of- living crisis is having a devastating impact on young people across the UK, especially those who are already vulnerable,” said Chrissie Reed, Depaul UK’s Corporate Development Manager.
“We’ve already seen a staggering 30 per cent increase this year in the use of our emergency accommodation service, Nightstop.
“Together, Depaul UK and CEO Sleepout will raise awareness of young people desperate to escape the dangers of homelessness and the event will help us to raise vital funds to support young people build a safer and brighter future.”
The event will hopefully raise thousands for each of the causes. Among them, Lewisham Local, which hopes to raise around £4,000 for its project – Food Cycle Lewisham – which provides community meals to combat hunger and loneliness.
The charity’s CEO, Simone Riddle, said Lewisham had one of the fastest rising levels of street homelessness in outer London, and hat a nutritious three-course meal this winter will be more important than ever.
“62 per cent of FoodCycle Lewisham’s guests have told us are worried about the cost of keeping warm and 38 per cent have indicated that they are on very low incomes,” she added.
“This funding will help us to keep our doors open over the winter period, and extend our service to provide another midweek meal to keep up with the rise in demand.”
And the UK’s homelessness crisis continues to worsen despite efforts from the Government to end it.
In 2019, the Government vowed “to end the blight of rough sleeping” by 2024. Yet figures published last October revealed that rough sleeping across London had risen by 24 per cent in a year.
Around 3,600 people slept rough on the Capital’s streets last summer.
And with mere weeks before the 2023 event, Bianca has urged London’s vast business community to either “grab a sleeping bag or their wallet” and help those most at need in whatever way they can.
“London is one of the greatest cities in the world, and that’s because of the people,” she added.’
“But for over 150,000 of Londoners, they don’t have the basic security of having their own roof over their heads.
“The city’s CEOs need to step and lead by example, to make London better for everyone. I can’t guarantee that it will be warm, but your generosity could help change so many local lives forever.”