Some absolutely shocking figures about the number of homeless children in the UK have recently come into the public domain. And, tragically, they appear to have impinged very little – if at all – on general public consciousness, and indeed the conscience of us as an evangelical community.
Latest statistics show what are described as ‘record’ homelessness figures. For example, the number of people sleeping rough in England has more than doubled since 2010, when data was first collected. On any given night last year, there was an average of 3,898 people sleeping rough – a rise of 27% compared to 2022.
And between July and September 2023, there were 109,000 households – note, households, not individuals – needing to be housed in temporary accommodation. That is a rise of 10% in a year, and is the highest number since records began in March 1998.
