From Tuesday rough sleepers and people at risk of homelessness in England will have a legal right to help from their local council. The Homelessness Reduction Act has been described as the “most significant legislation” to tackle the issue for 40 years. It is hoped it will mean more early intervention and a reduction in rough sleeping, where numbers have risen 169% in England since 2010.



It’s good news for those who would otherwise be refused help by their local authorities but for some it’s too little, too late from the government. Where official bodies have failed to help, communities have been supporting those who have experienced all forms of homelessness.



Just off Silicon Roundabout in east London, named so because of the large number of tech businesses near Old Street, I meet members of Beam, a crowdfunding platform which allows those who have been homeless to seek donations towards the training and qualifications they need to work.



Tarquin, who now works while training to be a gas safety engineer, raised just under £4,000. His parents were drug users and he started at 14. He points outside and says: “I grew up down the road with Tony (another member of the group) and heard how Beam helped him out. His story inspired me.”

Left to right: Tarquin, Jordan, Hana and Tony outside Beam’s office in London. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

Tarquin was in hostels and on the streets for more than half his life but has been drugs and alcohol free for nearly four years. “We get these cards from anonymous donors with words of encouragement like: ‘My husband was a gas engineer, we live a good life and we want to help out.’ It builds your esteem up,” he says.

Founded by Alex Stephany in September 2017, Beam has funded 20 campaigns and raised over £43,000 for a range of industry-recognised qualifications. Defined as a social impact business, Stephany not only wanted to address the homelessness crisis but also “use technology to solve big real world problems”. “In short, a social impact business makes money by doing good - and in a way that can be measured,” he says.



Working with charities, Beam helps individuals who have been referred by preparing a fundraising campaign, breaking down the costs and helping them crowdfund online. Supporters are kept up to date with a member’s progress and often, when in stable employment, members choose to pay back the money raised and help fund other members’ campaigns.



One member, Jordan, tells me he wants to become an electrician. After leaving the armed forces he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. “Structure is important for me,” he says. “Without Beam I would be stressing about how my addiction would take hold of me again.” Hana, a refugee from East Africa, has recently trained as a beautician. She says it was difficult when she was homeless. “Beam has been my compass.”

Tony was one of the first people to benefit from the scheme and is dubbed its “poster boy” by Tarquin. Over the last 10 years he has sofa surfed, lived in hostels and slept in cars. “I was a bit apprehensive and thought it might not work but it’s more positive change than I was expecting. There used to be no light at the end for me, but the Beam’s shining bright now.”

In Cambridge, those who are homeless – and not averse to cycling – can return to work with the help of Overstream Clean. It was developed in 2014 by Rachel Newell, 40, social enterprise manager for the charity Wintercomfort. People receive training then are given work in cleaning and gardening. “One of the problems for those living on the streets is that most people don’t have the documentation needed to work,” says Newell. “We help pay for birth certificates but for a bank account you need an address. It can sometimes be tricky to break the cycle.”

Overstream Clean workers in Cambridge. Photograph: Helena Anderson

Overstream Clean, which only employs homeless people, uses bikes to get around the city. At the moment, 10 people work in cleaning with one person offering gardening services. An average of 20 to 30 people get involved annually with 60% of those who move into work afterwards remaining in employment. “We don’t market ourselves as a social enterprise but as a professional cleaning company and it’s great to see people feeling an affinity with what we do,” says Newell.

She says the scheme has attracted a lot of interest and they’re hoping to grow and scale up operations. “There are a lot of people who want to work. Our gardener used to live under a bridge when he started volunteering with us. Now he works full time and has bought a motorcycle which he takes on holiday. People are just trying to make a go of things and we want to help where we can.”

Salisbury made headlines in March with the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. A month on and there are signs of recovery but Austin Cohen says businesses are still being affected. “It’s a small city,” he says, “and everyone knows each other, and after the recent news we wanted to do something positive.”

In 2017, the rate of those sleeping rough in Wiltshire was 72% higher than the previous year, with 2015 seeing the worst crisis in the last eight years with a 156% change compared to the year before.



Austin Cohen (centre) with people in the Boston Tea Party cafe in Salisbury which is backing the mugs scheme. Photograph: Austin Cohen

Cohen, 33, left his job as an accountant manager to set up a charity working with the homeless, vulnerable and elderly. “I lost my parents when I was nine and I received a lot of kindness from people because of it,” he says. “I’ve been brought up in a way where it’s natural to give back and help others.”

With freezing temperatures brought by the “beast from the east” in February, Cohen wanted to help those who were street homeless. In March he came up with the idea of offering hot drinks in mugs but with free refills at local cafes and churches. “We found that a lot of homeless people weren’t really welcome in establishments,” says Cohen. “We wanted to change that … It’s not just about offering a warm cup of tea or coffee but feeling like a part of society.”

The mugs have been donated by Mole Country Stores and several commercial and church cafes offer free refills seven days a week. So far 23 mugs have been handed out and Cohen hopes to launch similar schemes in Southampton, Birmingham and Bristol. “We managed to deliver this project by just getting people to work together and I don’t think it will need any funding. It started off as a community project and I hope it stays that way.



“I once gave a mug to a girl at church and she was so thankful. She said: ‘Sometimes all I want is just someone to look at me, acknowledge me and see me.’ That stayed with me. It’s not much to say hello to a homeless person. Sometimes people just want someone to talk to.”