Almost 1,700 children in the North West currently face spending this Christmas homeless, a study by Shelter has found.
Government figures show that the current number of 1,699 children without a permanent home at the moment is the highest the figure has been since 2008.
It has also been revealed that the number of families living in emergency B&B and hostel rooms has risen by an alarming 18% in the last year alone.
Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity, carried out in-depth interviews with 25 families currently or recently living in emergency B&B’s, hostels or sofa-surfing to help paint a picture of what life without a home is like.
All of the families that were interviewed currently spend every day in the confines of a single room and over half of the parents even have to share a bed with their children when they go to sleep.
Kimberley, her husband Mark and her two young children became homeless when their landlord decided to sell the property they were renting.
This left the couple in an awful situation as they couldn’t afford another home on Kimberley’s salary and had to move into a hostel as a temporary solution.
As part of the survey Kimberley said: “Mark broke down the first night we were there. We were in the room and he just said “I can’t do this”, I had to say – you can do this, it’s all we’ve got.
“We had to eat all our meals on the beds as there was no other space. Every night it was lights out by 8:30pm so that the children could sleep so we’d just have to sit there in the dark.”
This is a single story from just one of the 7,475 families living in emergency B&Bs and hostels across the UK.
Andrea and her son share a double bed in a basement room with very small dirty window that blocks out most of the natural light.
One night their room she woke to discover that her room was completely flooded, here is their story: “I woke up and put my foot down, and I thought I was dreaming. I saw everything just swimming around in the room, all of our clothes and all of our shoes.
“I had to throw away most of our clothes and my bedding. Even now, I go through so much mould and mildew spray it’s untrue.”
Shelter is calling on the public to help support its frontline advisers as they grapple with the increasing demand for help from families fighting to stay in their homes.
John Ryan, Shelter Manchester hub manager, said: “News of the devastating rise in homeless children in the North West will bring heartache to thousands of people in the region. But the sad fact is, fifty years since Shelter was founded, too many families still need our help.
“For the advisers at our Manchester hub it’s always tragic to see parents desperate to escape the single cramped room of a B&B or hostel that they find themselves struggling to raise their children in.
“Imagine having to eat all of your meals on the floor, share a bed with the rest of your family, or being too frightened to leave your room at night – these are things no parent wants their child to endure.
“That’s why we urgently need the public’s support to help us to continue to be there for the thousands of families in the North West who’ll need us this Christmas. Join us and together we will not rest until every homeless child has a place to call home.”
To support Shelter’s urgent Christmas appeal please visit www.shelter.org.uk or text SHELTER to 70555 to donate £3.
