One in 10 Brits think homeless people are beyond help

Almost one in five Brits (17%) admitted they didn’t know the best way to help homeless people and shockingly one in 10 (8%) of those surveyed said they don’t think there is a way to help homeless people at all, according to a survey released recently. The survey is highlighting the importance of supporting homelessness charities and giving people the dedicated support they need to tackle the problems that made them homeless in the first place, in order to provide a long-term solution to the problem.

The survey looks at the nation’s attitude to helping the homeless and reveals that there is still a lot that needs to be done in order to tackle the issue – despite the fact that one in five (18%) say they give their loose change to homeless people they see, a third of Brits are skeptical to give money to homeless people because they don’t know how it will be used.

Over one in 10 (13%) also admit to making negative assumptions about homeless people when they see them on the street and 16% even avoid eye contact, ignore, or give homeless people a wide berth.

Almost a fifth (19%) say they have no idea what to do to help the homeless people they see and 13% say they rarely give money to homeless people as they believe there is something more valuable they can offer, but are not sure what that is.

The survey does show that some Brits are aware of this – almost half (45%) say they have donated items of food, clothing or furniture to a homeless person, nearly a fifth (19%) say they would rather buy homeless people food and drink than give them money.

Over half of Brits (53%) have donated money to a charity and one in 10 (12%) have volunteered their time. There are still those who feel like they could be doing more, with a third (32%) having thought about volunteering their time or saying they would like to do so, and a quarter admitting to feeling incredibly guilty when they walk past anyone homeless without stopping to do anything.