freezing to death

[Greenshoots1]

This is the sixth individual I have heard of freezing to death on the street in the last three weeks.

I haven't been at work today, but a friend who works in the same homeless shelter has just rung up and told me.

2 people in their 30s, 1 in their 40s, 3 in their 50s, 2 woman 4 men, 2 drinkers, 4 not drinkers,

if any of that makes any difference.

Are we being unreasonable to allow this to be happening in the uk.

obviously yes

It's terrible that it happens anywhere.

Everyone should have access to shelter as a basic human right.

It could well be happening to someone near me, or near you, right now

I've not seen the reports on this, do you have a links op?

I haven't seen reorts either, its people I know of through word of mouth.

There have been some reports though, I think.

This one was a woman in her 40s, thrown out by husband back in autumn, on the waiting list for a winter shelter, was referred to a Christmas shelter but never arrived, just been identified as a corpse who died from hypothermia a few days ago.

I don't think it is particularly unusual though.

A quick google, there are report s of 4 in different parts of the country since Christmas day, including 1 in Taunton yesterday, none of these 4 were counted in my 6,

A common, and not very newsworthy event

Random thought - wonder how much it would cost to 1 make a ' thermal' sleeping bag type of thing out of the material used for the blankets used by the emergency services ( the silver ones ) and whether ( obviously due to funding from whoever ) they could be handed out at homeless shelters / on the streets to those living out in the elements? Plus - as a lot of heat is lost through the head could local councils do a pledge to give out donated ( by the public ) hats too? - this is a ' just putting the idea out there ' type thread - no idea of the logistics involved

well, it can't make the situation any worse, can it.

Google says some of the people had access to shelters though

Why remain on the street if they had an option not to?

There is nothing to stop any member of the public supplying homeless people with big warm hats, or at least offering them.

mummy there's a coat like that in the states. Just googled it and it's the EMPWR coat.

This is horrendous. Homelessness is such a complex issue, but at the heart of it are real people.

Why remain on the street if they had an option not to?

some reasons:

don't know a shelter is available

can't find a shelter with space ( I spoke to a homeless person yesterday who had been given the addresses of 3 or 4 shelters, but none could take him in.)

can't get to the shelter.

Alcoholic, or drug addict so cannot accept a place in a shelter where alcohol is banned or where they cannot inject.

dog owner, so cannot accept a place in a shelter which means leaving their animal outside

In the SWEP shelters (the government shelters which open in fire stations after three days below zero) there is often threats and violence, and many homeless people are afraid to enter.

fear of arrest

fear of assault

fear of being found by violet partner

claustrophobia - very common in people accustomed to living outside

fear of infectious disease

fear of gangs, fighting, racism, violence against women

poor English and communication problems

mental health problems

There are many reasons, but the main one is plain and simple, not enough places in shelters.Not by a long chalk.

Green - I meant the council/ radio or local newspaper to mention it and to say ( eg ) bring your hats to x place and we'll donate them to people living in x town - sort of en masse.
( Off to Google that, meggle! )

there are so many empty hotels in the country some could be made into homes for the homeless and so many empty houses that shouldn't be allowed

There were places in shelters for at least some of these people.

Runny homeless shelters can be really scary and dangerous places with lots of drunk, aggressive people off their heads with serious mental health problems. Some homelesss peop,e are scared to go there and feel safer on the street. Some homeless people have had abusive experiences in facilities and won’t go there and will take their chances on the street.

You'd think that any shelter would be preferable to the street this time of year but I've heard that some people shun shelters as violent and oppressive. Hard to imagine it's worst than sleeping rough but maybe sometimes, for some people, it is. Let's be generous and non-judgmental with our fivers.

*worse

Alcohol exacerbates this. People drink to feel warm and then fall into a stupor

Found it megle!
www.designboom.com/design/empwr-coat-jacket-homeless-11-29-2016/

There were places in shelters for at least some of these people

take a look at some of these shelters yourself, and ask yourself whether you might not feel safer on the street....

I'm not knocking the SWEPs, they do a brilliant job, but there are not enough shelter places to go around, and many of the shelter places that are available simply are not a place of safety

They should make homeless shelters like this!
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel

Is there anything individuals can do to help Greenshoots?

Running What's actually meant by "access to shelter" though? There's a lot of misunderstanding around the rules on this... Most people aren't entitled to emergency shelter. It's horrifying.

I imagine that alcohol and drugs are an issue as well.

My grandfather had a friend that froze to death. He wasn’t homeless (at all), he was simply drunk...

Anyhow, there aren’t enough shelter places and more importantly, many people - especially women but also men - are genuinely unsafe in shelters.

The idea of hats and thermal sleeping bags is a good one imo. It’s also a very ‘direct’ thing, which might encourage people to donate. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an organisation do this, tbh...