{"id":16771,"date":"2023-03-17T03:15:34","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T03:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.turning-tides.org.uk\/?p=16771"},"modified":"2025-09-26T18:11:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T17:11:01","slug":"a-hidden-crisis-homelessness-in-the-countryside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turning-tides.org.uk\/dev\/a-hidden-crisis-homelessness-in-the-countryside\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hidden Crisis – Homelessness in the Countryside"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turning Tides is at the heart of <\/span>ground-breaking<\/span> new research<\/strong><\/span><\/a> into <\/span>escalating <\/span>rural homelessness<\/span>, <\/span>launched by the Universities of Kent and Southampton recently<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span><\/span>innovative<\/span><\/span>,\u202f<\/span><\/span>life-saving<\/span><\/span>\u202f<\/span>services <\/span>created<\/span> by Turning Tides<\/span> \u2013 at speed \u2013 to reach people who otherwise would not receive help, feature as examples of best practice<\/span> in <\/span>this <\/span>strikin<\/span>g <\/span>new <\/span>re<\/span>port<\/span>.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>Our mobile hub<\/a><\/strong> and Roffey Place<\/a><\/strong> accommodation both came into service in <\/span>the second half of 2022, as an immediate response to <\/span>what we could see happening<\/span> across<\/span> rural West Sussex.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Homelessness in the Countryside: A Hidden Crisis<\/strong><\/em><\/a> found that rural areas saw a 24% increase in rough sleeping in 2022, compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n

The report comes<\/span> just a few weeks after the <\/span>government\u2019s<\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/strong><\/span>own figures<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a>\u202fabout homelessness were published<\/span>. Key to the findings<\/span> – <\/span>as highlighted by the BBC\u2019s extensive coverage <\/span>of the report<\/span> (see video <\/span>below) – <\/span>is that government funding for services relating to rural homelessness is 65% lower per person than for those experiencing homelessness in urban areas.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Donate<\/a>Which means charities like Turning Tides are having to fill the funding gap. As Turning Tides\u2019 Ruth Poyner explained to the BBC\u2019s Clare Marshall: \u201cOur fundraising team is being tasked to raise \u00a3650k to support our services, which is a massive ask. And we\u2019re always running with a deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Please support our work by\u202f<\/span>making a donation<\/a><\/strong>, and ensure that people experiencing homelessness receive support.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can watch the full BBC News report, including an interview with Franc who has lived experience of rural homelessness, below.<\/span><\/p>\n