Bournemouth Homelessness on the Horizon

Once a loved holiday destination for families to reside to has now become one of the worst cities in the UK where people are too afraid to walk the streets.

Where you might wonder? Bournemouth.

Across England homelessness has become a daily issue, but Bournemouth soars at second place for the worst region in the south-west. Why you may ask?

Well, over current years the level of homelessness has risen massively and is clear throughout the town and surrounding areas. Not only do you find people squatting in closed down shop doorways, but they also approach you to plea for any spare change that you may be carrying.

Most are harmless but some can come across in a non-amicable way leading the public and visitors in the town to feel threatened and intimidated even though they are in desperate need.

Often the word “homelessness” makes people instantly imagine rough sleepers on the streets but with this being a major issue across the whole of England, studies actually showed that there are many forms of homelessness which give insight into a person’s life or mindset. It is broken down into four types.

Episodic homelessness are individuals that are homeless and have been homeless for three periods in the previous year, they tend to be younger and suffer from a condition such as substance abuse, mental health illness or medical problems.

Transitional homelessness is the most common form, the individuals are likely to be younger with shelter/temporary housing for one brief stay.

Hidden refers to individuals temporarily living with others with no guarantee of a long-term place to live, they do not access homeless support networks and services which leads to them not appearing in statistics.

And lastly, chronic homelessness is individuals who are homeless for a longer amount of time, typically older or injured, but it is the least common type.

Different people need different type of help however, they all relate to eachother in one way or another.

Crisis’ homeless monitoring report (2018) highlighted there was an increase of 169% in homelessness across the UK from 2009 – 2017 and with the state of the economy in Britain today people find it difficult to conform to society’s expectations of how a person should be,

the way they act and what they do.

Not all are able to integrate themselves into such a demanding society which can lead to a massive downfall for those underprivileged and struggling.

Nicole Pepe, Business owner of ‘Urban Forest Studio’ said: “there seems to be a sub-culture of homelessness going on and Bournemouth has a reputation for being a wealthy area. So if you’re going to pick a place where people are more likely to give you money it’s here.”

It is clear that this is also happening around England, The Big Issue reported that Shelter’s research showed that there was an estimate of 320,000 homeless people in the UK, yet it has still not been tackled effectively.

Nicola then added: “I would never choose Bournemouth to exhibit or hold art groups. People don’t want to be approached or have the homeless sat under the car park machine looking at them to donate every time they come to an art class. It is intimidating.”

This type of response shows that not only do the members of the public in Bournemouth feel as though it has changed and has become a dying city, but business owners will eventually start to struggle from the neglect of customers and tourists as homelessness has a significant effect on everyone’s day-to-day lives.

The Bournemouth Borough Council brought in a homeless strategy to ‘build a better Bournemouth’, however, not all strategies have had a positive and effective impact as numbers are increasing daily.

Sarah Holmes, local resident believes: “The council is concerned about homelessness and is working together with local voluntary and statutory agencies to try to better understand and address the problem.”

Those showing belief, ambition and a sense of hope towards the councils plans to make a change to those who need it most in Bournemouth is what encourages the council to act upon these issues, but also shows a sense of community through wanting to raise awareness and create a better life for those who are less privileged.

Sarah continued to say that “There needs to be an increased outreach of services to sign post homeless people to where and how they can begin to address their problems.”

Across the whole of England there are many companies that work with the homeless such as BCHA, YMCA, and Shelter homes are placed for easy access, but it is not always easy to get involved with these associations.