Liliana, ‘looking for a new job but finding work has proven difficult’ [Images: Facundo Arrizabalaga]

LILIANA was newly set up in the doorway of a shop bordering the square in Covent Garden, and said she had just begun sleeping rough having lost her job, and then her flat, forcing her to take to the streets.

The 24-hour security made the spot more appealing than other darker corners of the city.

Looking for work, Liliana said she was hopeful she would secure something in the near future, but she was clear about the challenges she faces.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I want to speak with someone. I need Citizens Advice, but… it’s not easy when you are on the street because if you want to go to work you need to be clean,” and added: “London is not easy. I’m not the only person to struggle with this.”

According to data from the Greater London Authority’s Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN), in 2025/2026 there were 12,938 people seen sleeping rough on the capital’s streets.

While a reduction on the 13,231 recorded for the previous year, this is far higher than the 8,329 reported in 2021/2022, with councils spending growing sums on attempting to bring these figures down.

Prime minister Andy Burnham has said: “No one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station.

“But we’ve seen it for so long that it feels like Westminster has started to accept it. I won’t accept it. That’s why my first instruction as prime minister was to end rough sleeping.

“And it’s why today we’re getting started with a national drive to get everyone in for Christmas.”

CHAIN’s data for 2025/2026 showed 2,583 people were rough sleeping in Westminster itself, far above the 974 in Camden, the borough with the next-highest figure.

People In Need Today (PINT for short) is one of a number of charities with operations across the capital, attempting to reach the people behind the figures and provide essentials such as food and clothing.

‘People In Need Today’ charity volunteers at work, Alice Clayton, Harry Leeds and Derek Rice

Founded by Cee Star, a former music industry professional in 2006, it runs a series of outreach sessions, including walkarounds on Wednesday and Friday evenings from Charing Cross up towards Goodge Street at which food is handed out to those in need.

Star, who appeared familiar with many of those encountered along the route, said: “I started walking the streets giving out food, and… just in the area where my business was, about 20 people, and I started looking after them. And one day, coming back from a meeting, outside my office, 14 people and a kid. I looked at my business partner…

“I thought, we ain’t got no audition going on. Then I pulled up, opened the door, realised a lot of them were the homeless people I’ve been supporting, and that made me realise how much of an impact I’ve made in my community.”

Star said he knows of several who continue to hold down jobs but, due to various circumstances, have no choice but to sleep rough.

Harry Leeds, operations manager at PINT, began volunteering at the charity around a year ago. He said toothbrushes, toothpaste, baby wipes and sanitation products are among the items most sought after during outreach sessions.

“It’s a whole swathe of different problems that people face”, he said. “Fundamentally, I think the biggest lesson that I’ve learnt when I’ve been volunteering here, is that these people on the streets are just normal people, that it could be any one of us. And what’s happened is some catastrophic, very unlucky event has happened to them that is unforeseen and uncontrollable.

“Oftentimes, people were living a very normal life with a wife, kids, house, potentially even a normal job, and they’ve just found themselves on the streets without any sort of mistake of their own, but just something awful has happened to them.

“I’ve talked to people who are victims of people trafficking, victims of sexual assault that are too traumatised to be in society, lots of people with mental health, very vulnerable people, victims of domestic abuse, all sorts.

“But I think the general underlying tone is it’s not their fault. It’s just some unforeseen unlucky circumstance.

“We always try and emphasise that it really could be anyone.

“You know, in three months, God forbid, but anyone could be on the street. So we always try and look after everyone as if they were your neighbour or they were someone you just met.”

Westminster city councillor David Harvey, the cabinet member for housing and regeneration, said: “We understand that street homelessness is complex and that every individual’s circumstances are different.

“Rough sleeping is a national challenge, but Westminster faces unique pressure as people are often drawn to major city centres when they lose their homes.

“Many people sleeping rough in Westminster are not residents, but we do everything we can to help them off the streets and get back on their feet, which could range from reconnecting them to their homes to helping them access specialist services, such as domestic abuse or mental health support.”