Somebody Cares

About 50% of all young people will try drugs. About 3% of that 50% will develop problematic drug use, and about half of them will need to commit prolific acquisitive criminal offences to be able to pay for that drug use. In 1998 in England, there were 166,430 households accepted as homeless (DETR). Most of these are in temporary local accommodation (such as B&B’s) In June 1998, the DETR estimated there to be 1850 people sleeping rough on any given night in England. Of these, 621 were in London. A report by Shelter in 1997 gave an estimate that 10,000 people nationally drift in and out of rough sleeping In Scotland in 1995, there were estimates from 4,231 to 5,798 rough sleepers. (SCSH) 9,600 people were estimated as squatting in England in 1995 (London Research Centre). 80% of squatting is thought to happen in London (London Research Centre) 32,100 people between the ages of 16 and 21 were estimated to be homeless in 1995 by the London Research Centre 20% of homeless young people in London in 1999 had attempted suicide at least once in the past year (CHAR 1995) Homeless young people are twice as likely to have been physically or mentally abused 25% of applicants for housing to local authorities in England in 1994 were from ethnic minority groups (DETR 1996) 10% of rough sleepers in London were from black or ethnic minorities in 1998 Government figures show that 753,200 homes stood empty in England in 1998 (Empty Homes Agency) Nationally there are nearly 1,900 hostels, containing around 27,000 beds, being provided or used by local authority housing departments in England (Research Information Service) Around 300 day centres for homeless people are currently operating in the UK. Day centres provide essential support for around 10,000 people every day (NHA 1996) The USA regularly deports British nationals who have lived there most of their lives. They arrive in the UK with no National Insurance number and often have no family or friends to offer any support. In Thailand, you can receive the death penalty for trafficking any amount of heroin, no matter how small. Prisoners are expected to pay for their own food, bedding and medication. The only jobs available to prisoners pay the equivalent of Ł2 a month. 1 child dies every 2 weeks from solvent abuse (St George`s Hospital Medical School) The UK now has more 15-16 year old drug users than any other EU country (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) Addaction helps children as young as 9 to overcome their drug problems Drug using offenders at Addaction projects have managed to reduce their average weekly spend from Ł400 a week to just Ł25. The aim is to stop offending and substance misuse altogether 5 people worldwide die of AIDS every minute AIDS is the 4th biggest killer worldwide 3 million children living with HIV worldwide 2001 saw the largest number of people diagnosed with HIV in the UK In Japan, infringements of prison rules are punishable by several days in solitary confinement where the prisoner is placed in a strait jacket and expected to eat from a bowl placed on the floor by guards. In Jamaica, prisoners may only have one visit of 15 minutes per week, regardless of how far the visitor has travelled. There is a high incidence of violence amongst prisoners and there is no opportunity to transfer to a UK prison to serve the remainder o Over 30,000 people use services provided by Homeless Link member every day At least 20,000 people are the hidden homeless - including those living in squats, or sleeping on the floors of friends and family Homeless Link`s mission is to be a catalyst that will bring an end to homelessness. Homeless Link`s mission is to be a catalyst that will bring an end to homelessness.