Southport Today: a great town, so long as you have a roof over your head tonight!

Southport is a classic resort and it’s a fantastic place to live in or visit. Nevertheless, like other places it does have its issues.

Homelessness and rough-sleeping remains high on the list of ongoing problems.

This unfortunate person spent the afternoon yesterday on a bench by the bandstand in the town centre.

Some people seem to think that such issues are ‘funny’ and treat them with contempt. However, they may not be laughing if the same fate befalls them one day, as it may well do.

Anyone can fall on hard times, via grief or ill-fortune etc and we all need to keep this fact in mind ‘before’ we try to judge others!

So yes, we have a lovely town yet the down side is something that many folk wish to dismiss as someone else’s problem.

Land around Southport’s attractive Marine lake also holds homeless people.

‘Officially’, the following information is given…

Help is available to homeless people and others in need.

If you have nowhere to stay, or if it is dangerous for you to return home, or if you will be homeless within the next 28 days you should contact the Housing Options Team immediately.Housing Options Team, Ground Floor, Merton House, Stanley Road, Bootle, L20 3UU. Tel: 0151 934 3541. Opening Times: Monday to Thursday 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, Friday 10.00 am to 3.00 pm.

Out of Hours

For people who become homeless when the office is closed, Sefton Council’s Health and Social Care Emergency Duty Team manages the Out of Hour’s service. The service is for emergencies only and can give you general advice and will be able to assist you to find temporary emergency accommodation.

You can contact the Out of Hours service on 0151 920 8234. Monday to Thursday after 5.00 pm. Friday after 4.15 pm and any time at weekends and public holidays.

NB. Nevertheless, how exactly can phone numbers and distant addresses in Bootle help a ‘Southport’ rough sleeper, or a dispossessed person with no money or means to telephone for help?

Perhaps information dealing with assistance for such people needs posting on billboards etc around the town with a dedicated free phone number. There is however the Samaritans, who offer a free phone help number 116 123.

Moreover, we hear plenty from Sefton politicians about improving our town, yet how much effort actually goes into the ongoing homeless problem? Is it being addressed at its core?

At the end of the day, it will not kill any of us to go out and give a few sandwiches, a bottle of pepsi or a warm blanket to the unlucky ones sleeping rough with the rats on our streets tonight.

We are all human beings and action does speak much louder than words…

Pat Regan ©

http://pat-regan.blogspot.co.uk/

Submit News Contact us with your community, business or sport news. Phone 07581350321

Email ots@otsnews.co.uk

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Otsnews-Southport-1575528676012039/

Twitter www.twitter.com/onthespot_news

Breaking local news as it happens, searchable archives with photographs, the ability to instantly comment on news articles – there are so many advantages to OTS (Onthespot) News.

If you want your news read locally online then send it to ots@otsnews.co.uk – relying only on the newspaper is to restrict yourself to an ever reducing audience.