We really value our partnership working in Glasgow. So many agencies work together for the benefit of the marginalised in our city. A great example of this was the latest mapping exercise to confirm the number of rough sleepers around the city. These counts are undertaken regularly and allow us to understand the position with rough sleeping in Glasgow.

Last week, Simon Community Scotland coordinated a city-wide count which included the Glasgow City HSPC accommodation team, NHS outreach, The Halliday Foundation, Police Scotland, Help the Homeless Glasgow, the Kindness Group, the Invisibles and four colleagues from Glasgow City Mission who were all part of a group of 37 people that split into 17 teams to cover the city’s well-known rough-sleeping hotspots.

We found seven people sleeping rough.

This number is consistent with the very low numbers that have been typical over the last few years. Only two of the seven individuals were not known to any of the teams; the other five are known to us and we have daily engagement with them. Three are long term rough sleepers and do not want to go into any accommodation and prefer to be on the streets. We do regular well-being checks on them, and the others were followed up by our teams the next day to offer assistance.

The report that details extent of the count which started at 12:00 midnight and finished at 3:00am on can be read here.