by Alex Claridge

aclaridge@thekmgroup.co.uk

There are more homeless people in the Canterbury district than
in any other part of Kent.

Homeless charity Porchlight counted 22 rough sleepers on what it
calls a “typical night” and has submitted its findings to the
government in order to create a national picture about the
issue.

Maidstone had the second highest number of homeless in Kent with
19 and Dartford the third with 15, while Sevenoaks had the least
with just one.

Gill Bryant, the head of operations at Porchlight, believes the
figures are among the most accurate ever collated because they are
based on the charity’s everyday work with the homeless.

Mrs Bryant said: “The previous guidelines and street count
process has always meant official figures vastly underestimated the
scale of the problem.

“It was a huge frustration for us. Now, using data collected
from our day-to-day work with rough sleepers, we are able provide a
much more realistic total. We have always shared our data with
local authorities and we are grateful to them for asking us to be
an integral part of this year’s evaluation.”

Porchlight, which is based in Canterbury’s Watling Street,
calculates that there are 123 rough sleepers in Kent at present.
Previous counts using a different method found just 25 in 2010 and
only 11 in 2005.

Porchlight is also trying to find suitable long-term
accommodation for those rough sleepers who use its services.

Mike Barrett, the chief executive of Porchlight, said: “This
service is vital for the county. The team is already at full
stretch with an average of 765 calls per month to the 24-hour
helpline, busy local drop-ins and a full-to-capacity waiting
list.

“Reducing funding to the service by such a huge amount will end
up costing the taxpayer more money in the long run and have a
detrimental effect on the lives of vulnerable people and our
communities.”

For more information, see www.porchlight.org.uk