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Windsor Council Homeless Claims Slammed As Support Group Shame Authorities Over ‘Rat-Infested’ Shelter
A homelessness group has countered claims by a Tory council that beggars and rough sleepers in Windsor are refusing help, claiming its shelters were “rat-infested” and had bed bugs.
Murphy James, who works for the Windsor Homeless Project, hit out after Windsor and Maidenhead council leader Simon Dudley urged police to clear beggars and rough sleepers from the streets before the Royal wedding on May 19.
Dudley wrote to Thames Valley Police (TVP) on Tuesday seeking action against “aggressive begging and intimidation” and “bags and detritus” accumulating on the streets and urged them to use their powers under the 1824 Vagrancy Act – which criminalises rough sleepers – and the 2014 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act.
live in. It is rat-infested, there’s bed bugs… then their answer is ‘no, I’d rather stay in a bus shelter’.”
calls.
Shelter’s Director of Communications, Policy and Campaigns, Greg Beales, told HuffPost UK that people sleeping on the street “don’t do so through choice”.
He said: “They are often at their lowest point, struggling with a range of complex problems and needs and they are extremely vulnerable, at risk from cold weather, illness and even violence.
“They desperately need our help, support and advice to move off the streets into safety and, eventually, into a home. Stigmatizing or punishing them is totally counter-productive.”
Thames Valley Police’s (TVP) Windsor branch responded to Dudley’s comments on Twitter, saying that agencies should work together to tackle homelessness.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/windsor-council-homeless_uk_5a4df443e4b025f99e1fffe5
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