New figures claim female homelessness in Preston is in a far more perilous state than official government estimates.
The Women’s Rough Sleeping Census took place in November last year and according to the team involved more than 150 women in the city may be experiencing homelessness at any one time.
This figure is stark compared to the official rough sleepers county for the city which states only one woman is classified as homeless by that definition.
Read more: The Big PNE Sleep Out returns to tackle female homelessness in the city
Rhian Mason, assistant psychologist for the Rough Sleepers Initiative, says while the figure may be shocking it is the experiences gained from the survey which are making a big impact in the city.
She told Blog Preston: “Homelessness is defined in different ways, our census spoke to women to understand their situations. In most cases women will do everything they can to avoid sleeping and bedding down somewhere on the streets, in comparison to men.
“We saw in the latest census how there has been a drop on the number of women saying they had slept rough the night before, but over a longer period the issue of homelessness for women has remained stubbornly unchanged.”
Figures collected by Rhian and team lift the lid on how women will still end up sleeping rough – but they are only officially counted as homeless if physically seen sleeping rough during the official rough sleepers count.
From walking all night to sofa surfing, there’s a variety of very temporary places where women will seek refuge at night.
Rhian said: “We sourced the information from a variety of organisations who are working directly with women who present themselves as being homeless or between accommodation.
“Often they will perhaps sleep at a friends house on a sofa, or they may be involved in sex work and put themselves at risk by going with someone in a vehicle or to a property.
“And we find location wise they’ll be very transient, often scared of being in one place too long – which is where the ‘walking all night’ figure comes from.”
An encouraging figure from the Census is how increased emergency accommodation which is female-specific in the city appears to be having an impact already.
Of the 30 or so women spoken to a third had slept rough the previous night, this compared to two-thirds the previous year.
Rhian said: “This is most likely due to the new night shelter from the city council on the Flag Market, as there is a shortage of female-only or female-appropriate emergency accommodation. You would not want a woman having to be put in a dorm-type room with male rough sleepers for example.
“However the underlying data, which asks how many nights a woman had been sleeping rough in the past three months showed this was broadly flat. So while the emergency accommodation is there and being used, the scale of the number of women needing support means it isn’t able to cope with the demand coming through.”
The majority of women spoken to were aged 35 to 44 and the survey found they were primarily seeking support from organisations like the Foxton or from substance use services and women felt they needed more support with housing, mental health and relationships with their families.
Rhian said: “An emerging theme we found from this survey was the rise in women experiencing ‘honour-based’ abuse and they were being placed in hotels or short-term rental properties – and either being forced into relationships or sex work.
“They are completely hidden from authorities and organisations, and may never consider themselves homeless. They are trapped.”
The findings from the Census are shared with organisations working with women in the city – such as the city council, Lancashire Women, the Foxton and Preston Domestic Violence Service amongst others.
What do the women say?
Below are a selection of comments made by the women spoken to during the Rough Sleeping Census.
Speaking about the Foxton’s day centre, one said: “Thank you for caring enough to want to help. I love the food.”
Another said: “There is help out there but you have to rely on other people telling you, no one knows what services are out there until you need them, and by then it’s too late.
“The local community can be really helpful, giving food and stuff but women need somewhere that’s open all the time for when they need it, to get a shower, clean clothes, access to police and medical care if needed, and more women’s only accommodation, I feel safe here but there’s always that anxiety and what ifs.”
And another woman said: “There needs to be more housing, support, care and safeguarding of women. Men take advantage of us for our sexuality and exploit us just because they know we need somewhere to sleep. My ex made me work on the lane and took the money off me. I’ve never actually slept on the street because it’s not safe, you don’t know who’s who and I’d be too vulnerable.”
What do the city council say?
Responsibility for tackling homelessness sits with the Town Hall.
Preston’s Labour-run administration acknowledge there are likely to be many women they do not have contact with at present – meaning the scale of the issue is difficult to put an exact figure on.
Deputy mayor and women’s champion for the city, councillor Nweeda Khan, told Blog Preston: “Although the night service with dedicated women’s provision has been invaluable to the city, there is so much more that needs to be done to tackle rough sleeping prevention and support and improve women’s safety generally in the city.
“Working with our city-wide partners through consultation and roll out of new measures and initiatives, we will continue to provide the best support we can.”
A meeting of the city council on Thursday (29 January) is due to see councillors updated on how much funding the city has been given under the government’s plans to try and tackle homelessness – which has been rising for men and for women.
More than £5m will be received by Preston over the next three years to cover tackling homelessness, rough sleeping, and accommodation for ex-offenders as well as domestic abuse safety accommodation grants.
The report states ‘the funding announcement is further welcomed as it provides three years confirmation of direct award rather than being dependant upon annual allocations and bidding rounds for access to additional grants. However, the three-year allocation needs to be seen in the context of the ongoing housing crisis and the continued pressures on the homelessness advice and prevention service.”
Figures have been provided to Blog Preston by the city council about their outreach work undertaken last year.
They had more than 954 encounters throughout the year, of which 40 were with individual women – and they made up 20 per cent of the total encounters by the service. These could be a mix of people bedded down for rough sleeping, begging, street drinking or in a number of other settings.
Last month the city council outlined a number of measures it had been undertaking to make the city centre safer – and the wider area – in response to a survey by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire which made for stark reading about how unsafe women and girls felt in Preston and Lancashire.
Take action to break the cycle of female homelessness
More than 250 people are expected to sleep out at Deepdale Stadium to raise £100,000 to go towards those working to support women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the city.
The Big PNE Sleep Out returns on Friday 27 March and you can join the hundreds of kind-hearted Prestonians who are already signed up to take part. You can sign up via the Foxton’s website.
The event, organised by the Preston North End Community and Education Trust, the Foxton, us at Blog Preston and Veolia will raise crucial funds to give additional support in ensuring women in the city have a safe place to bed down at night.
Chief executive of The Foxton, Cath Coffey, said; “The Foxton’s work with homeless women is about visibility, dignity and transforming lives.
“The National Rough Sleepers Women’s Census is crucial, and we thank CGL — and in particular Rhian — for her inspiring leadership and passion in coordinating the Census in Preston.
“The commitment and dedication shown by all partners involved makes a real difference for women who too often feel they have no voice.
“Our Big Sleep Out 3 is about standing in solidarity with the women, and we need supporters to help us continue this life-changing work.
“We thank everyone whose signed up so far, as it looks to be an amazing crowd of people. We look forward to seeing everyone at PNE on March 27th.”
If you can’t make it to the Sleep Out and want to support, you can donate via Justgiving.
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