Scotsman campaign: Here's how you can help victims of Scotland's homelessness crisis this Christmas
A ten per cent rise in homelessness in Scotland’s three biggest cities since before the Covid pandemic shows the problem is getting worse, not better
If it is accepted that the first duty of any government is to protect its citizens’ lives, then that must include ensuring everyone has access to the basic requirements of life: food, water and shelter.
Yet homelessness is a moral blight on society that politicians seem powerless to end, with people living in tents on city streets and children forced to spend months, even years, in unsuitable ‘temporary’ accommodation.
Last year Conservative politician Suella Braverman infamously described rough sleeping as a “lifestyle choice” – a glib remark that dismissed the grim reality of tens of thousands of people in Scotland alone desperately hoping to find something that most of us take for granted: a home.
10% rise in homelessness
We already knew there was a serious housing crisis across much of Scotland. However, new figures reveal how the situation is now significantly worse in Scotland’s three biggest cities than it was before the Covid pandemic – when the government provided extra funding to ensure no one was living on the streets as part of efforts to control the virus.
Last year, a total of 40,685 applications to be declared homelessness were made in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, up by nearly ten per cent on the same figure in 2019/20. In Edinburgh, the average time spent in supposedly temporary accommodation was 507 days, compared to 234 days in Glasgow and 127 in Aberdeen.
Nearly a third of homeless people have a mental health problem, while some have a learning disability or a physical one. Others have poor health or a drug or alcohol problem. In short, they are human beings who are not making a “lifestyle choice” but instead need our help.
A wonderful charity
Not everyone can offer this in person. But many of us can help fund those who do – organisations like Cyrenians. This is why this year’s Scotsman’s Christmas campaign is to raise money for this wonderful homelessness charity.
Its chief executive Ewan Aitken said: “Many of our neighbours and community members will be spending the winter in conditions that are far from festive... Cyrenians are here for those people.”
If you are able to make a donation, please consider doing so.
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