Thames Reach

Thames Reach is a London based charity working with homeless men and women.

Services

Its services include outreach work with rough sleepers, a range of hostels and supported housing projects, and schemes which focus on supporting people who have experienced homelessness by helping them develop new skills and re-engage with family and friends.my name is ryan

London Street Rescue

Thames Reach runs the London Street Rescue Service which provides support to people sleeping rough on the streets of the capital. Its helpline number is 0870 3833333.

History and size

The organisation has been in existence for over 25 years. In 2006, its 300 staff and 50 volunteers helped over 4,000 individuals across the capital. The organisation is predominantly a frontline agency providing services to homeless people or those in danger of becoming homeless, but it is developing a strong reputation for its campaigns.

Campaigns

Statements from the charity indicate that it believes homelessness and its effects are a great injustice. It has gone on record to support a Homeless Link campaign which aims to bring an end to rough sleeping in London by 2012.

Its own campaigns include the following:

Super strength drinks

A call for super strength drinks to be taxed more heavily. Thames Reach is lobbying Government for tax changes as part of a campaign to reduce the availability of these drinks which it claims have caused devastation among marginalised and homeless people. It is also lobbying the UK drinks industry to stick to their corporate responsibility policies and to consider removing the products from sale.

Begging and drugs

It has also campaigned on the issue of begging. It believes that, contrary to popular perception, most people who beg are not sleeping rough, and are using the money they receive to fuel a drug or alcohol addiction. It believes that these people are in need of support but that giving money to them exacerbates their problems and that the cash often ends up in the hands of drug dealers.

It achieved a great deal of publicity for its message with a poster which went up across London showing a body made up of coins alongside the message that ‘Your kindness could kill’. The poster received criticism from some quarters but was seen by others as an effective and timely tool in debunking some of the myths around begging and homelessness in the UK.

Young olds

Most recently it launched a campaign to highlight the problems faced by the ‘young olds’– vulnerable, middle aged, former rough sleepers who have debilitating health problems more commonly associated with pensioners.

Thames Reach coined the term ‘young olds’ to describe individuals, who may be suffering from Wernicke-Kosakof syndrome aged between forty and their mid fifties who are typically suffering from heart disease and liver disease, brain damage, poor mobility, loss of memory and incontinence.

The problems faced by ‘young olds’ are caused predominantly by heavy drinking – often linked with the consumption of super strength lagers and ciders – and by years spent sleeping rough on the streets. Many engage in challenging behaviour, some have problems with hard drugs and some have mental health issues.

It now aims to influence local authorities such that they fund specialist, long-term accommodation based upon people’s needs rather than their age.Research undertaken by Thames Reach indicates that the phenomenon is a growing one and currently affects hundreds of vulnerable people across London.

See also

Homelessness in the United Kingdom

rough sleeper

External links

[http://www.thamesreach.org.uk| Thames Reach website]