Rough sleepers move to coast over 'holiday memories'

Rough sleepers are moving to a seaside town partly due to fond memories of childhood holidays, a charity has suggested.

Blackpool has some of the highest rates of homelessness in north-west England, according to the latest government figures.

One third of rough sleepers in the Lancashire resort were found to be from other parts of the United Kingdom, Blackpool Council has confirmed.

The Salvation Army's Richard Thompson said many rough sleepers had moved there with the hope of improving their lives.

"They'll remember their holidays from when they were little and come back," he said.

"They see it as a place to come and earn some money.

"People come to Blackpool because of holidays... because they think it's somewhere to make an improvement in their life.

"But there's also people within Blackpool who are homeless as well who we do our best to look after."

Kristen, who moved to Blackpool from Salford in Greater Manchester, has been homeless for two years.

She receives help from the Salvation Army's Bridge Project, which provides support for anyone sleeping rough in the area.

"You might walk down the street and not see 20 of us in a doorway, but in a lot of these B&Bs, the front door is open and the second door is shut," she said.

"So we're behind that little doorway bit, and that's where a lot of homeless do sleep, especially women.

"I walk through the town centre, and we all know each other.

"There's probably 20 new faces just in the last two or three weeks of homeless people that have come to Blackpool."

Jason, who moved to Blackpool two years ago, said it was not always straightforward to access support.

In order to receive help from a local council, they must be assessed as having a local connection, which includes living in the area for at least six of the last 12 months.

"It starts off OK and then they try and force you back to where you've originally come from," he explained.

"I had a connection here before, but because I've left and gone to St Annes, I've got to start from day one again.

"It's a vicious cycle. It's no use trying to go somewhere else because it's the same situation."

Blackpool Council said high numbers of people arriving from outside the area was not a new phenomenon and that its housing support was mainly reserved for local residents.

"Unless a person has a particular safeguarding risk... our offer to people from out of the area is around reconnection," said a spokesperson.

They said this involved "supporting people to return to where they have family or a support network in place, or to a local authority which will have a duty to them."

According to the annual rough sleeper headcount by Blackpool Council, 11 people were living on the town's streets but the Salvation Army believes the figure is much higher.

Only those bedded down are included in the official figures.

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