🌙 July Rough Sleeping Count: A Night on the Streets With Newham’s Teams

 

Picture from the last months Count, just before midnight, as Newham Council teams headed out for July’s bi‑monthly Rough Sleeping Street Count. Every two months, Council rough sleeper officers, outreach workers, Councillors and volunteers come together for this essential work. We meet at 10.30pm at Newham Dockside for a briefing, then head out in teams to known hotspots across the borough.

The aim is simple but vital: understand the scale of rough sleeping in Newham and assess whether recent interventions are making a difference. While the primary role is to count, if someone is awake and willing to engage, we take basic details so outreach workers can follow up from 6am the next morning with advice, support, and a chance to move people off the streets.

I was the driver for my team. We visited a well‑known hotspot and spoke to several rough sleepers — some open to support, others sadly not. We also checked an area recently blocked off by the Council to prevent dangerous sleeping conditions. Encouragingly, it had “worked”: no one was sleeping there anymore.

Midway through the night, we encountered an unconscious man in a railway station. We immediately called 999. The handler guided us through how to move him to help his breathing until help arrived. The fantastic London Ambulance Service reached him very quickly and took over. I don’t know whether he was a rough sleeper, though I suspect he may have been — but the incident was a stark reminder of how dangerous these environments can be for vulnerable people.

Once our tasks were complete, we returned to Dockside to report our findings and I headed home. I was back around 1am — early compared to some counts.

Huge thanks to Paul and his team, to all the outreach workers, and to every volunteer who took part. And a special mention for Cllr Susan Masters, Cabinet Member for Adults Services, whose passion and commitment to this work is unwavering.