9 June 2020 

Glass Door caseworker Alex Norris spoke to The New York Times’ London correspondent about his experience supporting people affected by homelessness during the coronavirus pandemic.  

---

The story published on 6 June 2020 explains how the coronavirus pandemic almost brought an end to rough sleeping in London before it caused a new wave of homelessness. 

Said Alex: 

“We’ve seen people who’ve been waiting several days or over a week just to have someone come out and see them”. 

In some boroughs that have much higher levels of rough sleeping than others, people are being added onto waiting lists, and then essentially being told they need to continue to sleep out until something becomes available.

And in Yahoo! News 

Comments from Glass Door staff also feature in an article in Yahoo! News about the looming end to the hotel scheme. Chief operating officer Lucy expresses her concern: 

Returning people back onto the streets should not be an option, but time is running out to find alternative solutions. 

The same article shares the experiences of former Glass Door guest Lisa (pseudonym): 

“She has a chronic health condition and had been living on the streets, relying on temporary shelters run by the charity Glass Door, which helped her onto the hotel scheme. 

"I was elated," the 30-something told AFP by telephone. "To be able to sleep in a bed, it was like sleeping on cloud nine!" 

---

To find out more about how we are supporting people affected by homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic: 

Visit our coronavirus hub