Our veterans and homeless

We need another Olympics. That cleared the homeless off the streets. Perish the thought we should show that side of the UK to the wider world. We are an island and a fairly small one at that. Common sense will tell us we cannot continue to let so many people in. Our infrastructure cannot cope. The NHS was never meant to provide care for so many, school places are like gold dust and the housing crisis is a crisis because we have to home these migrants. Patel and Border Force are abysmal so brace yourselves that with the summer months coming we will be inundated with daily arrivals of boats crowded with migrants. In the meantime we look the other way where our veterans and homeless are concerned. Our priorities are skewed.

I'm just adding a comment to the mix. I'm a mental health nurse and when I was a student (mature student), I did a placement with a nurse at a homeless drop in facility . This was my elective placement and so many people made negative comments about why I wanted to go there - in short stereotyping. It was my favourite placement by far and I learned so much from some lovely people, who were there through no fault of their own. I know there are bad people in all walks of life but not all rough sleepers fall into that category. Homelessness together with substance misuse are special interests of mine and it always breaks my heart that I can't do more to help

by dealing with, I mean investment in services and housing that is specific to assisting homeless people to live independently - with short and long term support if necessary

Some towns and cities are much better at dealing with homeless people and it is all down to investment.

I think particularly for women, its really obvious why it would be easier to give a room to a woman and a child rather than a man, and thats mostly what we are talking about, homelessness impacts on men much more than women.

I don't know how many of us would feel comfortable renting a room to a homeless person.

Just to add to this, if you rent out a room in your house you can earn up to £7,500 pa without it being taxed and if a homeless person moves in, they can claim the cost of their accommodation (provided it represents the market rent) as part of their benefits. So in effect this is actually a more generous state aid than that being given to Ukrainian refugees. I'm sure anyone wanting to offer a room in their house to someone who is homeless would be welcomed by any of the charities. Shelter would be a good place to start

Hildagard

Callistemon21
Thanks for your reply, very interesting

HildegardI wasn't aware of this myself until I did a bit more investigating when I read this thread so thank you too!

Callistemon21
Thanks for your reply, very interesting

Hildagard

Sorry, I’m going to be a little controversial. Why haven’t the government offered the payment for housing refugees before to get our homeless veterans off the streets? Surely they should be our priority.

Because the needs of homeless ex-servicemen and women are complex. There are several charities which do great work with ex-service personnel but those who need help may not always come forward or avail themselves of it.


Despite the many criticisms of this Government (and I do recognise them!) they did recently set up The Office for Veterans' Affairs to help ex-service personnel in their move to civilian life.

This Action Plan outlines the steps the government will take to support veterans from 2022 to 2024.

It builds on the work of the 2018 Strategy for our veterans.

The plan contains 5 focal points for success:

delivering a step-change in support for veterans and their families
maximising veteran employability as the key to positive life outcomes
listening, learning and addressing with compassion the historic hurt or disadvantage that sections of the veteran community have experienced
dealing with historic operations, recognising that these continue to impact on veterans
making sure veterans receive the same high standard of support, across the whole UK

The Government has committed £millions for mental health support and to charities which help veterans.

So it is not a case of one or the other - we can help refugees too.

My rule of doing the exact opposite of what Jim Davidson does is still serving me well.

MerylStreep

Jim Davidson called out Dominic Cumberbatch on this very subject.
I have to say we have a wonderful award winning charity here in Southend.

you mean Benedict Cumberbatch of course

There is an interesting report here by the British legion
www.britishlegion.org.uk/docs/default-source/campaigns-policy-and-research/litrev_uk_vets_homelessness.pdf?sfvrsn=110aad9f_2
It says
Only a small minority report vulnerabilities
and support needs that are unique to a
military career, such as Combat-related Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (Johnson et al).
Research from the US has reached the same
conclusion. Rosenheck & Fontana concluded
the reasons that veterans became homeless
were multifactorial and broadly the same as
that found among the non-veteran homeless
population.
Some interesting figures here
www.wlm.org.uk/news/how-many-veterans-are-homeless-in-the-uk

Jim Davidson called out Dominic Cumberbatch on this very subject.
I have to say we have a wonderful award winning charity here in Southend.

Not minimising the needs of these groups, but nobody has greater urgent need than women, children and elderly people fleeing their homes because they have no choice due to war and the risk of death.

It's because of austerity measures, cuts to services over the 12 years and the fact none of these people have had their complex emotional needs met

I think the government pledged over 300 million to help the homeless last year.

There are also lots of charities the public can donate too

There are a number of you on this thread expressing the same view, perhaps you could get together and help establish such a scheme.

Whenever someone suggests we help the homeless we are told that they are all drug addicts or alcoholics.
I wonder some how much is discrimination and stereotyping.

A lot of homeless are teenagers who have been kicked out because of changes at home. New partner is one example.
I remember reading once that some illnesses are more 'sexy' than others and generate more empathy from people.
I think this extends into other areas of charitable behaviour as well.
Housing a homeless person isn't as glamorous as housing a refugee from the latest world crisis
The second is way more exciting.

Hildagard. Our poor veterans who are suffering PTSD, or other psychological conditions, and not being supported, is an abomination. They really should be our first priority. The public have not been invited to sponsor these poor souls. I suppose, if we are not in a position to offer accommodation, all we can do is donate to the appropriate charities.

I see that another 400 migrants arrived by boat today on the South coast. Not Ukrainians. How will they be accommodated?

Exactly, GSM. I was maybe being too tactful.

What GSM said.
The two groups support needs are very different. I think that anyone taking in a homeless person would need training and support themselves. It takes someone very special to be able to do this, but I do agree with your sentiment that we do not do enough for the homeless in our country.

I think a great many of them come with emotional baggage that most people would find very hard to cope with, also drug and alcohol addictions leading to theft and perhaps violence. They need very specialist help and some have chosen that way of life. *grannyactivist would know, she works with the homeless. People fleeing from a war zone are obviously traumatised but those on the streets are, I think, a very different kettle of fish.

I suppose it's partly because they come under the umbrella of the homeless generally and because some have chosen to live an unconventional life.

Neither of which means that they should be overlooked.