A survey of homelessness in Durham

Joseph Manley

Palatinate met David at Durham Action on Single Housing (DASH), a charity providing temporary accommodation and help to people who are homeless or about to become so in Durham. DASH offers 45 bed spaces across Durham, and helps people to move towards their own private tenancies.

David was born in Middlesbrough, he has lived in Durham for over four decades. He reminisced, “I classed myself as very normal. I lived in a lovely house in a lovely area. I had a good job, with good money, and I had a nice car”.

In 2021, David found himself living in a hotel, struggling at the same time with alcohol addiction and mental health issues. “Had it gone on another month, I don’t think I would have been here,” he tells us. After some time in hospital, David was able to overcome his addiction and find a place at DASH.

According to Shelter, in 2022 on any given night in the UK, 271,000 people spent the night homeless: a rate of 1 in 208 people, including 122,000 children. The North-East had the highest rate of homelessness of any region in the UK.

In this investigation, Palatinate spoke to the general public, Durham County Council, students volunteering to help support those facing homelessness, local nonprofit organisations tirelessly working to help people into safe accommodation, and those who have faced homelessness themselves.

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Bringing Ross’s experience from working with Under1Sky in London, they established a branch in Durham, that now has over 40 student volunteers. Under1Sky seeks to confront stereotypical assumptions on homelessness, and challenge the stigma and fear of engaging with their friends on the street that is prevalent amongst the public.

“Many people have negative associations with homelessness, and are often misinformed about its causes and its symptoms” they tell us. Under1Sky’s student volunteers hand out essential resources like clothing and food, but claim that their most important function is one that costs nothing.

When speaking to Palatinate members of the public in Durham said they had varying assessments of the level of rough sleeping in Durham City. However, many admi ed that they knew li le of the factors that led people to sleep rough. One resident noted, “You see people in the shop’s entrances.

“Not just Durham, but the whole of the North East has got worse. I go to Sunderland a lot and you can see that early morning and during the day. I think that the cost of living has had a big effect on it”. A student said that it was “kind of depressing to see”, and that they hoped that “the Council is doing something to offer support, and charities would be around to help out”.

Palatinate went to one charity run by students. In 2021, Durham students Ross and Oli had noticed that there wasn’t a student initiative for helping street-connected people directly, and wanted to make a

Under1Sky’s approach prioritises making connections, restoring pride and dignity, and emphasising our shared humanity. They say that rough sleeping is “part of a longer story that’s very complex, and at the heart of the issue is human connection”.

Many Durham students have been going on walks with them to talk with their street-connected friends. Ross notes that the biggest response from students occurs afterwards: ”Everyone on the walk is a bit struck by what they’ve seen, and who they’ve talked to. They really learn something from it”.

Through their work, Oli and Ross say they have felt a far deeper connection to Durham and its communities, developing friendships with people on the street. Oli says, “We want to connect to them as people, befriend them, share in their hard times and share in their good times, and just spend time with them”.

Oli tells us of one woman in Durham with whom he has connected over the past few months, who enjoys reading. “We could pass that woman and ignore that about her, relegate her to living on the streets and that’s all she amounts to… that’s how most people view homeless people, and that’s the narrative we want to change”.

Unfortunately, Oli and Ross have become familiar with the emotional anguish that comes with being ignored on the street. They remind us, “If you’re a Uni student who is clothed and fed, and you’ve got all the things you need to survive, but everyone ignores you, no-one talks to you, no-one even looks at you… that’s a huge issue, and it’s not something we can overlook. That’s one of the main things that’s hard for these guys.

“We want people to see our homeless friends, and not just see through them or look at them awkwardly, but to engage with them, smile at them and see their humanity. We’re not naive, and I’m aware that there is an element of awkwardness around this because we can’t understand it sometimes. But that shouldn’t be a barrier.”

Councillor Alan Shield told Palatinate, the council are “very commi ed to addressing the homelessness situation across the whole of County Durham” however, “The Council cannot do everything itself, and we aren’t the be all and end all. What we need to do is to engage with other partners who can enhance the support that we can give”. He also noted that, although assessing the level of rough sleeping is notoriously difficult, homelessness had “not necessarily increased” since 2019, and asserted that Durham had done “extremely well” in its housing strategy response to the pandemic. has been reduced considerably over the last few years. If you can, build more homes and make more funding available for the supported accommodation, for those who don’t just need the bricks and mortar.”

Providers like DASH warn that people only approach the council at crisis point. David at DASH said, “There is always hope for somebody. No ma er how low you get, just reach out, they will help... Don’t suffer in silence. Do not. Reach out, get help, both in accommodation and mentally through the NHS.” Both Shield and Smith agreed: “There’s some education to do to the public, saying please do come, we’re here to help you, rather than waiting until it’s too late”.

Fears of an increase in homelessness have come during the current cost of living crisis, private rents boom, and there is a lack of supported housing.

Shield said, “We have to take a very careful narrative to people on the streets… They are people who have fallen into severe difficulties socially, economically, financially, and need that level of support from local people, local organisations, and central government to get them back into habitual living”.

Marie Smith, Housing manager at Durham County Council said “While there are some spaces for accommodation at places like DASH... We have a lot of people taking up B and Bs, when really we want to move them on.

“We just need more homes. The house-building programme

David warns against the stigmas surrounding homelessness and its impact upon him, “the feeling of being helpless, relying on others, is not nice, it’s really not nice”. He said he felt “embarrassed” at his situation, having previously been “held in a position of trust, as a team leader and in a managerial role”.

The volunteers at Under1Sky emphasised how many students struggle to break down social barriers and make connections with those who seem so far away from their own situation. David emphasised that homelessness can appear like something removed from many people’s lives, yet “It can happen to anybody, it really can, it just takes a trigger point”.