Rough sleepers in Stratford town

Stratford-on-Avon District Council is aware of a number of individuals sleeping rough in shop doorways in Stratford town centre. It has already made contact with these individuals and tried to assist them.

There are a number of services aimed at supporting rough sleepers in Stratford, and it is almost always the case that with the help of the Council and other agencies accommodation can be found, food provided and support given to deal with the challenges they face including drugs, legal highs and alcohol addiction. By giving directly to those who are rough sleeping you could be doing them more harm than good.

For example:

• Giving money  enables them to continue buying drink, drugs and legal highs which are harmful to them, and also does not encourage them to seek help with their addictions
• Giving money does not encourage them to engage with support services for help with benefits and housing
• Giving food and drink to them does not encourage them to engage with the help and support that is available locally

Any rough sleepers seen in the town can be reported to the Council via Street Link:  http://www.streetlink.org.uk/

If you wish to do something to help this particular group, you could offer to volunteer some of your time at the Stratford Link Project, run by Bromford,  which operates from Waterside. If you are interested in this, please contact Karen Ovens (Karen.ovens@bromford.co.uk)

The Council is working with partner agencies and the police to address the issue of rough sleepers and beggars in the town. The Police and Community Safety Team are running a joint operation, using both enforcement and support to try to reduce begging. If you experience begging (someone asking for money or placing an object for the collection of money), then please report it to the local Police at su.snt@warwickshire.police.uk or to the Council's ASB Officer paul.greewal@stratford-dc.gov.uk