Kathleen
From: Marie Campbell - 38 Degrees
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 9:56 AM
To: Kathleen McMullen
Subject: Freezing
Dear Kathleen,
Tonight, people without a home may need to sleep out in the freezing
cold, desperately trying to keep warm on the street. It’ll be below zero – and
that might mean not waking up in the morning. [1]
When it gets this cold, local councils are meant to activate an emergency
plan to find people sleeping rough and get them into the warm. [2] Some
councils are moving fast to save lives. But others may be dragging their heels
instead of working quickly to find the people in danger.
Could you send a quick email to your local councillors to ask what
they’re doing to help get people off the streets tonight?
It’s incredibly easy to email your councillors using the 38 Degrees
website.
Click to get started: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/cold-emergency
If your local councillors aren’t doing much, lots of emails from 38
Degrees members asking about the emergency plan could be just the kick they
need.
As the snow falls, the best councils have staff on the phone getting
different departments to work together. They’re using camp beds and community
centres to help people with nowhere to go keep out of the deadly cold. [3]
If lots of us send e-mails today, we can show our councillors we want
them to act fast, and let them know it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to
save lives.
We’ll find your local councillors from your postcode, and there’s a
template e-mail you can use if you’re not sure what to say. It only takes 2
mins and it could make all the difference in your local area:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/cold-emergency
Together, 38 Degrees members use people power to change things for the
better. Whether it’s banding together to protect the NHS we love or standing up
to the power and greed of Rupert Murdoch, we change things in the real world by
signing petitions, sending e-mails and meeting up in our local communities.
Right now, we have a chance to use people power to get people off the
freezing, dark streets tonight. Can you send a quick e-mail?
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/cold-emergency
Thanks for all the good that you do,
Marie, Hannah, Belinda and the 38 Degrees team
PS: If you’re worried about someone you’ve noticed sleeping rough in this
icy cold weather, you can make sure they get help by telling Streetlink, the
new national helpline and website:
http://www.streetlink.org.uk/tell-us-about-a-rough-sleeper
NOTES
[1] Crisis: http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/rough-sleeping.html
[2] Crisis: “Crisis calls on all councils to protect rough sleepers from
‘deadly’ cold”
http://www.crisis.org.uk/news.php/582/crisis-calls-on-all-councils-to-protect-rough-sleepers-from-lsquodeadlyrsquo-cold
[3] National charity Homeless Link provides this guidance for councils:
"Good practice note - Severe Weather Emergency Protocols: Making arrangements
to prevent rough sleeper deaths during extreme cold weather"
http://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/SWEP%20good%20practice%20note%202010_0.pdf
Liverpool Echo: Help for rough sleepers in snowy conditions in Liverpool
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2013/01/19/help-for-rough-sleepers-in-snowy-conditions-in-liverpool-100252-32633499/