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 The Prime
Minister took an interest in the work of THOMAS at the "Faith in Action
Conference." This event was being held on the eve of the Labour Party
Conference in Blackpool. I had the opportunity to share the ethos of our work
with Mr Blair. THOMAS is committed to working with any political party that
places an emphasis on helping people who are marginalised. Drug rehabilitation
is going through a radical change. Last year the Government launched the
National Drug Treatment agency to oversee the commissioning and development of
Drug Treatment at a national level. A priority for the NTA is to make drug
treatment available for the diverse needs of our population. Our agency will
continue to work with the most excluded drug users in the community. These are
the people who often have low levels of motivation and find it difficult
accessing treatment. In June we set up our Inclusion project to cater for their
needs. This means that nobody will be excluded. If we have to discharge someone
from our drug rehabilitation project, our Inclusion Project will be there to
help people with their difficulty.
Homelessness is often the result of
deeper-seated issues. Basically, we all could end up on the streets. None of us
know what we will face in life. The day can come when we are no longer able to
cope with life. The streets of our cities become the places of escapism, where
we drift with our fragmented lives unable to cope. Nevertheless, it is not only
the disruptive teenager, ex-offender or heroin user who ends up homeless. The
Crises research project also highlights that one in six homeless people are
graduates. The charity calls these the hidden homeless. These are the people
living in bed and breakfasts, sofa surfing with friends and moving from house
to house with no fixed abode.
On the streets of Central London,
Manchester, and Glasgow there are diverse groups of people who are struggling
to survive. Homelessness is not just confined to the adult world. Only two
months ago, Shelter revealed that there were around 100,000 children who were
homeless last year. This figure was uncovered by analysing government figures
on homeless families. These people may not literally be on the streets but they
have no permanent place that they can call home. Researchers studied 50
children in 21 families and found that the lack of permanent accommodation
severely affected almost every aspect of their lives, from schooling to health.
This is the modern face of Britain that the Government wants to hide.
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