You can support diverted giving, which is the act of donating money, food, toiletries and clothing to homeless charities rather than directly to rough sleepers. Donations to local charities enable vital services to carry on their work in the community.

You can:

• Email the Local Outreach team and give them a description of the individual and where they were seen. They will try to locate the individual and help and encourage them to engage with services to receive the support they need.
• Notify the Outreach Team via Streetlink

Begging is illegal and doesn’t offer a permanent solution to homelessness. Not everyone who begs is street homeless and for some people it is just a means of getting money. For those who are sleeping rough, begging can cause them to turn down offers of help from support services and return to the streets. 

We support and promote diverted giving.

We also work with partners to provide an outreach service that identifies who is rough sleeping in the town and how best they can be supported to engage with services and move forwards. However, homelessness is a complex subject and mental health and substance abuse issues can be a significant contributing factor. As a result and despite efforts not all rough sleepers choose to engage with available services. 

• We put on diverted giving information events throughout the year in the town centre, follow our social media to find out when the next event is happening
• Crawley Community and Voluntary Service host a quarterly Crawley Housing and Homelessness Forum to discuss and identify issues of concern and make recommendations for action