A recent campaign article from Bristol City of Sanctuary:

We urge the government to reconsider new rules that would see rough sleeping as grounds for cancelling or refusing someone’s right to be in the UK. We consider these plans to be inhumane and counterproductive; instead of protecting people who are already at risk, these new rules effectively punish them.

Their website is worth a visit (museumofhomelessness.org), especially to find out about their ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ and ‘Dying Homeless’ projects.

Frequently Asked Questions was presented at PRSC, 27 November to 12 December 2019. Various councils across the country were asked a series of reasonable questions, over a period of several years.

The key research findings in 2019 are:
* Number of Councils contacted: 110
* Number who did not reply: 41 Councils or 37%
* Number who only used autoreply: 35 Councils or 32%
* Number who engaged by signposting: 30 Councils or 27%
* Number who answered questions: 10 Councils or 9%

Homeless people in Bristol are being helped to register to vote by staff at a city centre bar.

To help rough sleepers, workers at Bristol Beer Factory bar at the Arnolfini will print off forms, send them off and let people use their address if necessary.

They will even give them a free hot drink while their register.

For more details, visit the Bristol 24/7 page: https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/city-centre-bar-allows-homeless-people-to-use-their-address-so-they-can-vote-in-general-election

TAP for Bristol is a new way of giving money to help solve homelessness in Bristol, ensuring your donation goes directly to those who need it.

You’ll find TAP for Bristol donation points located in the windows of businesses and on contactless devices in offices and cafés around the city centre, allowing you to make a simple and secure
donation of £3 per tap using your contactless credit or debit card.

TAP for Bristol is an initiative from Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District in partnership with Caring in Bristol.

For more information, visit www.tapforbristol.org.

Plans to open Bristol’s first 24-hour homeless shelter look set to be given the go-ahead next week.

Hailed as an opportunity to make a “significant and long-term” difference to the fortunes of some of the city’s most vulnerable people, the proposal would see the former council office building, St Annes House in Brislington, transformed into a new, 30-bed facility.

www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/bristols-first-24-hour-homeless-shelter-open-october/

“More people living outside means more people dying outside”

It is about America, but I think there is enough in the article to be of interest to us in Bristol, too.   Maybe we should keep a public record of the homeless people who die in Bristol each year?

medium.com/@mshannabrooks/what-happens-when-homeless-folks-die-in-seattle-27093b7c0b4b

Bristol is in the midst of an acute housing crisis, with lack of supply and increasing demands leading to ever-spiralling costs.

Mayor Marvin Rees has pledged to build 2,000 homes per year by 2020 in a bid to address this – but beyond that, the Labour administration says it wants to create mixed neighbourhoods and discourage “gated communities” that only serve to exacerbate existing divides.

It is in with these two goals in mind that the council is seeking to create its own housing company, a move it says will accelerate house-building across the city and enable greater control over the sites that are developed.

www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/bristol-city-council-launch-housing-company/

SARI and BDP are presenting a session on alcohol awareness within the BME community on Tuesday 14 August, 9.30 to 12.30 apotheke-zag.de.

Programme for BDP and SARI Alcohol Awareness Focus Group_ SARI and BDP Event flyer