{"id":1939,"date":"2017-04-10T12:45:49","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T12:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westminsterradio.net\/?p=1939"},"modified":"2017-04-10T12:45:49","modified_gmt":"2017-04-10T12:45:49","slug":"mp-for-harrow-east-bob-blackman-can-sleep-easy-after-bill-for-rough-sleepers-is-passed-by-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/mp-for-harrow-east-bob-blackman-can-sleep-easy-after-bill-for-rough-sleepers-is-passed-by-parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"MP for Harrow East, Bob Blackman, can sleep easy after bill for rough sleepers is passed by Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1940 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2017\/04\/tramp-1848974_1920-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"tramp-1848974_1920\" width=\"386\" height=\"257\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">(Photo:\u00a0https:\/\/pixabay.com)<\/p>\n<p>After being scrutinized and amended multiple times, Bob Blackman\u2019s bill to help aid homeless people has finally been passed by parliament. The legislation\u2019s official name; the \u2018Homelessness Reduction Act\u2019 will ensure that rough sleepers will no longer be turned away by their local council when approached for help. It will also help \u2018prevent more people from losing their home\u2019, giving support to all who ask, regardless of the size of the issue.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to Homeless.org, in the last quarter of 2016, 180 homeless applications were sent to the Harrow Council in seek of help and 42 of those applications were declined. The reason for why the majority of those applications were declined was because they were deemed to not be homeless, or \u2018not in priority need\u2019. Bob Blackman\u2019s bill will help address those who were declined and unable to get support, tackling the root of the issue before it worsens<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Blackman has also worked directly with the Harrow based homeless charity \u2018Firm Foundation\u2019, who help \u2018relieve the immediate suffering\u2019 of homeless people by holding night shelters, which now also accommodate homeless women, who make up around 26% of rough sleepers within the UK. (Crisis)<\/p>\n<p>To find out more about the Firm Foundation, please visit http:\/\/firmfoundation.org.uk<\/p>\n<p>Another notable homeless charity within London is Glass Door. A night shelter run by churches in West London, who also help homeless people get back on their feet. I spoke to Abbas, who tells us more about what they do when the night shelter is closed:<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1939-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/wav\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2017\/04\/glass-house-info-1.wav?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2017\/04\/glass-house-info-1.wav\">https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2017\/04\/glass-house-info-1.wav<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>If you would like to get involved with Glass Door, Abbas tells you how to start:<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1939-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/wav\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2017\/04\/how-to-get-involved-with-glass-house-1.wav?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2017\/04\/how-to-get-involved-with-glass-house-1.wav\">https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2017\/04\/how-to-get-involved-with-glass-house-1.wav<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>Glass Door&#8217;s website is:<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/www.glassdoor.org.uk\/welcome.htm<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1943 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2017\/04\/IMG_1047-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"img_1047\" width=\"390\" height=\"292\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">(Photo: Jonathan Pryke)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>London\u2019s poverty profile reports that in 2015 there were 7,580 rough sleepers in London. This number has almost doubled since the mid-2000s. One charity that most are familiar with is the Big Issue Foundation, like Blackman\u2019s bill, there ethos is to help whoever asks for it. Having an \u2018open door\u2019 policy, and working with individuals who have asked for support with getting out of homelessness. They support venders by helping them create an individual route, determined independently, linking them with local services, and opening up opportunities that mainstream society seemingly doesn\u2019t offer. With The Big Issue Foundation\u2019s help, homeless venders become able to \u2018open up bank accounts,\u00a0access health services, find\u00a0accommodation, meet their aspirations and reconnect with families and friends.\u2019<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\n<p>To donate or get involved with The Big Issue Foundation, please visit www.bigissue.org.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Photo:\u00a0https:\/\/pixabay.com) After being scrutinized and amended multiple times, Bob Blackman\u2019s bill to help aid homeless people has finally been passed by parliament. The legislation\u2019s official name; the \u2018Homelessness Reduction Act\u2019 will ensure that rough sleepers will no longer be turned&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":582,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-news-archive","category-first-year-archive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/582"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/radio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}