Rising street begging in Belfast spurs conference of stakeholders

Lord Mayor of Belfast Councillor Arder Carson hosted the closed roundtable discussion ‘Exploring the Issues of Begging’.

The event was organised by Depaul, a charity supporting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness across the island of Ireland.

The event brought together organisations working in the fields of homelessness and addiction including: Kerry Anthony, CEO of Depaul; Ian Brady, CEO of Depaul International; Jeremy Swain, CEO of Thames Reach (London); Louise Clarke, senior principal officer of Supporting People; the PSNI; and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

Ms Anthony told the News Letter: “The reason for holding the conference was to identify key partners and agencies that we could work with in the business community, Belfast City Centre Management, Belfast City Council and statutory and voluntary agencies.

“We want to try to work collaboratively.

“From research among those on the streets, we know from PSNI statistics that less than 20 per cent of people begging are homeless, which is something the general public don’t understand.”

She said more research is needed to determine how best to support people on the streets.

“The Housing Executive has responsibilities but if you apply enforcement you need sufficient services in place to provide detox and rehabilitation services for those that need them.”

Key factors in causing homelessness can be drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues, she said.

“Last summer we carried out a street audit with the Welcome Organisation and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive which found a low level of homelessness among people who beg,” said Ms Anthony.

“The number of homeless people sleeping on the streets in Belfast on some nights was zero. And then on another night it was 19 people.”

Ms Anthony’s organisation runs three hostels in Belfast and one in Dungannon.

She is not aware of organised begging but said she is hoping for more information on such issues from partner agencies and groups.

Cllr Carson said: “The visibility of people begging on the streets of Belfast has risen in recent months and this event aims to examine the reasons for this increase and explore solutions going forward.”

Last summer’s street audit found “a relatively low number of repeat rough sleepers” but also flagged up begging, he added.