Having just come through Christmas and these images of rough sleeping that I loath, I pause to think of the massive and in many ways, welcome, focus that Christmas brings to homelessness.
There are so many amazing people doing things that genuinely ameliorate the plight of people who are homeless or otherwise struggling. We see soup kitchens spring into action, increases in donations to food banks and incredible fundraising for sleeping bags and clothes. In Brussels there was even the invention of cardboard tents for rough sleepers.
With all this good will, fundraising leverage and time and effort, I can’t help but think we could make a more lasting impact than the annual ‘feel-good’ sticking plaster.
