Cost of living crisis hits charity while homelessness rises

It comes as the cost of living crisis forces people to choose between paying rent and putting food on the table, leaving them with little time and money left to help others.

Jim Deans, the founder of the local charity Sussex Homeless Support (SHS), which provides people in need with essentials like food and toiletries, said they now feed more than 200 people on a Saturday and 50 on Thursday in their soup kitchen.

“Our numbers in the last three months have shot up,” he said.

“This is only going to get worse as Poverty increases domestic abuse and violence, child poverty and malnutrition get worse and simple mental health issues soar.

"Government have again created a perfect storm, with local government allowing it.”

Sussex Homeless Support provides food to those in need

The charity has also seen drop in volunteers, as lockdown ended and people went back to work, although they “always manage to keep a core crew”.

Kay Richardson, who is now a senior carer in a home for the elderly in Patcham, came to Brighton in 2021 with only a couple of bags and little money after escaping an abusive relationship.

While receiving help herself, Kay volunteered with Jim every day and said she had cooked for and fed hundreds of people.

Other charities, like the British Heart Foundation shop on London Road, Brighton, are starting to feel the lack of volunteers as well. 

“Everybody’s struggling right now, 100 per cent,” said Maria, who’s been working in the shop for six years.

Maria is concerned because while their charity is always looking for volunteers, the cost-of-living crisis is expected to make the situation even worse. 

The British Heart Foundation shop on London Road

This is because many people will be forced to pick up extra shifts at work to pay for essentials and will have no time for volunteering, which the British Heart Foundation, like any charity, relies on.

While there might be fewer volunteers, there is not a shortage of people needing their help.

Shelter, a charity supporting homeless people, reported that one in 78 people in Brighton and Hove were recorded as homeless at the end of last year, before the cost of living skyrocketed.

In England as a whole, one in 206 people were recorded as homeless. 

The only places where homelessness is more prevalent than in Brighton and Hove are London and Luton.

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Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “With private rents higher than ever, bills skyrocketing and housing benefit lagging dangerously behind, many more could be at risk of losing their home.

Almost half of private renters don’t have any savings and housing benefit has been frozen since 2020, creating huge holes in the housing safety net.

“To help people pay their rent during this immediate crisis and prevent rising homelessness, the government must end the freeze on housing benefit now.

"Beyond that the only lasting solution is to invest in decent social homes with truly affordable rents that are pegged to local incomes.”