An estimated 280,000 people in England are homeless, meaning that in every 200 people someone finds themselves without a home. Everyone should be aware of the people around them, especially the ones who struggle; even though we all portray a different story, our focus today will be on those who find themselves without a place to call home.

The reason for a person to become homeless can be for many different reasons such as: lack of affordable housing, unemployment and mental or physical life events that led them to become homeless. Other reasons may be leaving prison, care or the army to a home that does not exist, but regardless of the situation, it still allows the person to end up homeless.

There are different types of homeless that you should be aware of such as: rough sleeping, statutory homelessness and hidden homelessness. Rough sleeping is a more visible type of homelessness, you may spot many of them on the streets of London, those who rough sleep have a higher chance of suffering violence with the greater population. Statutory homelessness is when local authorities have to secure places of stay for a group of people, however the group need to fall under a specific criterion in order to secure an accommodation, the authorities mainly provide temporary homes for families with children. Hidden homelessness are the people who are not entitled to get help with housing or don't contact their local council for help, these people mainly stay in hostels or ‘concealed’ housing such as the floor of a friend or family.

In London, there are many charities that provide help for homeless people, for example: salvation army, centre point, the big issue foundation etc. The image above was taken during a food bank event for the homeless in Central London near Theatre District, this food bank provided food for those living on the streets, from the image you can see that there was many who were in need of food.

As for you, there are many ways for you to contribute in helping the homeless, you can: campaign for the rights of homeless and spread the message to provide a change where homelessness can come to an end, You can join events or create a fundraiser, you could provide a donation towards a charity or maybe this Christmas you could be able to volunteer and provide for those who are without homes during the holiday season.

Make a change for those in need.