'Just not coping' - Refugees, ex-military & released prisoners among Birmingham's homeless this Christmas

Homelessness in Birmingham has been a growing issue over the last decade and charities say they have seen a steep rise in the the amount of rough sleepers on the city's streets during the cost-of-living crisis.

New research from housing charity Shelter's estimates that more than 15,000 people in Birmingham will be homeless this Christmas, and that the number of homeless people across England rose by 14% in the last year. It said the "housing emergency is out of control", and called on the Government to take the issue seriously.

BirminghamWorld spoke with Maeve O'Sullivan, a volunteer at Let's Feed Brum, a local charity which aims to make a lasting difference to those experiencing and at risk of homelessness in the city by bringing food and helping to connect rough sleepers with services that can help further.

Everyday volunteers at the charity connect with people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness. They have teams go out on 'walkabouts' in the city to see rough sleepers and to help give basic provisions like hot drinks, some food and toiletries.

Their work is vital. For example, the charity held a Christmas Lunch that took place at Birmingham Cathedral earlier in December, when over 300 people were given a three course Christmas lunch.

"Homeless people can have some pretty dehumanising experiences," Maeve said. "So if we can be there to remind them that someone cares about them, then that's a really important part of their hopeful rehabilitation." Maeve provided some insight into what life is like for the city's rough sleepers during these harsher winter months.

"We’re talking to people who're dealing with mental health issues - that's a huge problem for people who are homeless. We also speak to people who aren't classically considered homeless, they are very vulnerable to being homeless. So they might have a roof over their head but it might not be there in a  week’s time."

I mention to Maeve that I noticed a man was sleeping in a tent set up in an area of south Birmingham earlier this month, as pictured below. A tent where homeless people were living was also spotted on a Birmingham roundabout earlier this hear. She says this is something that can be common in the city, especially as people look for ways to keep warm in the winter.

"There are people who are living in tents and sleeping in doorways," she said. "And there is an increasing number of people who are couch surfing and trying to get by in hostels."

Maeve says there are a variety of different reasons why people end up on the streets in Birmingham, and reveals that there is a big number of refugees currently on the city's streets.

She said the surge of refugees are from all over the world: Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Kurdish people and several African countries. They are people who have secured their leave to remain, only to lose at short notice the hotel accommodation they had while going through the approval process

She said: "Stories range from people who have just been released from prison, to ex-military people who are really struggling to adjust to normal life, and we’re seeing a big increase in refugees who have been leave granted leave to remain so they’re here legally but at very short notice they lose that accommodation they were given while waiting for that leave so they are out on the streets and haven't got a National Inumber yet.

"This means they can't get work although they are legally aloud to, but without a National Insurance number, they can't actually find employment, so we have this whole group of refugees who have a right to be here but haven't got accomodation."

She says many ex-prisoners have also ended up living on Birmingham's streets."They are put in accommodation where they are hoping to stay clean form drugs but they are surrounded by drug users - the accommodation isn't appropriate so they prefer to be on sthe treets rather than expose themselves to drug use that might throw them back into addiction."

It's a concerning situation, and Maeve says that the charity has seen a 35% increase in people using their services over the last six to nine months, and they "expect that figure to grow during the winter." But how do rough sleepers manage to deal with the harsh winter conditions at night?

"We always go out with a few sleeping bags because you’ll find someone who is in an absolute desperate state and there’s perhaps no room at hostels so we try to provide some basics for them," Maeve said. "People are resilient, they find ways of surviving - they will have blankets, they will have a way of getting by; find a warm corner or the places where you can make it through, and there will be some people who manage to find a hostel for the evening or who find a couch to sleep on, so it's a very big mix of things but there's a lot of resilience there."

She added:"If you're spending your day worrying about where you're going to sleep that night, there's a real mental exhaustion that comes from that. There's also people sleeping in the underpass between New Street and Moor Street. There's always people sleeping in doorways."

Maeve says many of the city's rough sleepers are also 'moved on' from security in the city. "I have seen and heard from people who have been roughly moved on because it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing having rough sleepers around," she said.

She said much more needs to be done to help the homeless population in Birmingham. "There is not that support there that used to be. We do have refugees being let loose, the same will go for people out of prison, they’re let out of prison and put into accommodation that is completely unsuitable for helping them rehabilitate. There are former veterans just not coping, and when you think about the demographics it's a wide variety."

She added: "What we’re seeing is the result of people not being able to access services and the services not finding them. So, something is not working and we’re doing out best to knit things together, but if the money and funding doesn't exist, then this will just continue."

Birmingham City Council statement

In response to the rising number of homeless refugees in the city, a Birmingham City Council spokesperson, said: “Birmingham City Council has for some time been aware of an increase in the number of decisions being made by the Home Office relating to asylum seekers accommodated in the city. This has resulted in additional demand for accommodation, indicatively 975 decisions being made from August to December 2023. There have been periods where the notice given to individuals has been inadequate, we now understand that this is now not less than 28 days.

“In addition the Home Office have agreed that no accommodation will be ended at times the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) is in place to protect those required to leave accommodation. Birmingham City Council is working closely with support agencies to ensure help is available, this includes help for anyone at risk of sleeping rough. If you are concerned about anyone you believe may be sleeping rough please contact StreetLink - Connecting people sleeping rough to local services (thestreetlink.org.uk) to notify our outreach services.”

To see more about the vital work that Let's Feed Brum do, visit their website, here.