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Sadiq Khan's rough sleeping campaign hits £150k in first month - London TV

Sadiq Khan’s rough sleeping campaign hits £150k in first month

by London-TV in LondonTV - Latest

A campaign launched a month ago by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has already raised more than £150,000 to help homelessness charities go further in tackling rough sleeping in the capital.

The campaign is part of the Mayor’s efforts to boost rough sleeping services in London, including using funding he has secured from national Government to double the size of City Hall’s street outreach team, and his agreement with London boroughs that all severe weather shelters London-wide will open if the temperature is predicted to drop to or below zero anywhere in the capital.

Sadiq launched his winter rough sleeping fundraising drive a month ago by installing 35 new ‘TAP London’ contactless donation points across the capital – with a further 24 points added since then.

Developed with the help of the Mayor’s Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund, the TAP units allow Londoners to donate on the go, using a contactless debit card or phone to give £3. These units have already been used 6,738 times, with all donations going to the London Homeless Charities Group – a coalition of 22 charities tackling homelessness in the capital – alongside those made to the Group via its GoFundMe page or direct.

Londoners have also responded to Sadiq’s call to help connect those sleeping rough with outreach workers and vital services by using the StreetLink app and website. 3243 referrals have already been made to StreetLink since the campaign began.

A cold snap earlier this month led to the Mayor opening emergency shelters across the capital for four nights in a row. Every night, more than 700 spaces were made available through the severe weather shelters funded by City Hall and boroughs, in addition to more than 600 spaces provided by winter night shelters run by faith and community groups.

Sadiq has also succeeded in getting all boroughs to sign up to the ‘In For Good’ principle – a promise that when a rough sleeper goes to an emergency shelter, they will be accommodated there until a support plan is put in place to help them off the streets for good.