Rough Sleeper Outreach

SPEAR are still offering services to those who are currently experiencing or have recently experienced homelessness. However some changes have had to be made to adapt to the current situation. The drop-in centre is now by appointment only. More information is available on the SPEAR website.

The Outreach Team provides individuals with an excellent service, enabling people to leave the street and take their first steps towards a lasting, genuine independence.

SPEAR has been co-ordinating a rough sleeper outreach service in Richmond now for many years. In 2017, SPEAR was also commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government to co-ordinate a rough sleeper outreach team working across five boroughs – Richmond, Merton, Sutton, Kingston and Wandsworth.

Our team go out late at night and in the early hours of the morning to identify those who find themselves rough sleeping with the objective of helping sign-post those rough sleepers to relevant services and engage them into SPEAR’s further services. Engaging them into SPEAR’s services requires *verifying their local connection with a view to accommodate them.

If you are concerned about a rough sleeper in any of these boroughs, you can refer them via the Streetlink Team at www.streetlink.org.uk, where you will be asked to provide some basic information.

*Verify means a team will come and find you in a rough sleeping location. SPEAR’s staff team will then carry out an assessment to identify the individuals needs and how best to meet them. Clients we work with will then be added to a database of rough sleepers called CHAIN.