The new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that he wants to "end homelessness in the country". Is that achievable?
Verall often rides his bike around London at night. But he doesn't do it to see the sights. He looks for homeless people who need help.
All he can offer them is a bottle of cold water or a cheese sandwich. He's been doing it for years. "I help because I've had mental health problems. I got a second chance and now I'm using it to help others in turn," the man, who is part of a homeless support network, told DW.
According to authorities, about 4,800 people sleep rough in England every night. Malcolm is one of them - he has been on the streets for 20 years. "I've been through a lot of ups and downs. Drug addiction, depression, poor mental health." He has learned that the new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham wants to solve the problem of homelessness, but he doesn't believe it: "This is nonsense," the man says laconically.
An unsolvable problem?
Malcolm says he has almost no access to medical care. "I went to an aid organization and wanted to get medicine. They told me - come back in two weeks."
Verall is also not optimistic. "Every person is different. And anyone who says that they can drastically reduce the number of homeless people in a certain period of time, given that the reasons for this are diverse, should know that this is not possible."
However, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced exactly such an intention in his first speech after taking office. "My first instruction will be designed to end homelessness in this country." Burnham is not the first to address this problem - as mayor of Manchester, he had set himself the same goal at the municipal level.
The example in Manchester
However, there are still homeless people in the city today. When Burnham took office in 2017, there were 268 according to authorities, and four years later there were only 90. In the meantime, they have increased again, but the program adopted by Burnham continues to work, providing 600 places to sleep for the homeless every night.
Darren Bateman is from Manchester and was homeless for years - until the charity "Emmaus" took him in. "People are given security, they are inspired by courage. There are opportunities to get qualifications here, and they are also provided with assistance in finding a job," he says.
The head of the organization is Ant Hopkinson, according to whom Andy Burnham has achieved a lot and managed to implement good projects in Manchester. But the challenges at the national level are enormous. "There should have been 90,000 social housing units a year. There is very little affordable social housing at the moment. A fundamental change is needed," he says.
"We are a rich country, this is not right"
Despite all the difficulties, Andy Burnham wants to find a solution to the problem across the UK. That is why he held a meeting with homeless people and representatives of aid organisations shortly after taking office.
Jenny Travass, who was at the meeting, welcomed Burnham's initiative to bring together representatives of the authorities, business and NGOs - this is definitely a useful move. "Why are there so many homeless people? We are a rich country, this is not right," she says, urging the authorities and the non-governmental sector to work together to solve the problem once and for all.