The Glasgow charity Homeless Project Scotland has secured indoor premises for coldest winter months. The news comes as data has been released that last year an estimated 244 people died while homeless in Scotland in 2022.

The Homeless Deaths 2022 report shows that while the total figure is similar to the previous year, the number of deaths attributed to drug misuse among those experiencing homelessness fell from 127 to 89. 

Almost three quarters of those who died were male. The number of deaths among females returned to levels seen in previous years after a drop between 2020 and 2021. 

Beth Watson, senior assistant statistician, said: 

“Our estimate shows a small drop in the number of deaths among people experiencing homelessness between 2021 and 2022 but this change is not statistically significant. 

“Our figures go back to 2017 when there were 164 deaths. While the year on year change is small, the number is still significantly higher than it was five years ago.”

The figures for 2022 are as follows

	identified deaths	estimated deaths	estimated death rate per million population
Scotland	216	244	58.7
Aberdeen City	3	3	19.1
Aberdeenshire	2	2	11.6
Angus	2	2	26.3
Argyll and Bute	2	2	35.0
City of Edinburgh	51	58	138.5
Clackmannanshire	2	2	58.3
Dumfries and Galloway	6	7	61.9
Dundee City	5	6	49.8
East Ayrshire	4	5	49.3
East Dunbartonshire	3	3	43.0
East Lothian	1	1	14.0
East Renfrewshire	1	1	16.4
Falkirk	1	1	9.3
Fife	17	19	68.5
Glasgow City	50	56	112.1
Highland	9	10	57.1
Inverclyde	2	2	39.1
Midlothian	5	6	80.9
Moray	0	0	0.0
Na h-Eileanan Siar	2	2	115.2
North Ayrshire	4	5	45.1
North Lanarkshire	9	10	39.3
Orkney Islands	0	0	0.0
Perth and Kinross	2	2	19.8
Renfrewshire	3	3	24.8
Scottish Borders	2	2	26.5
Shetland Islands	0	0	0.0
South Ayrshire	5	6	68.1
South Lanarkshire	10	11	46.5
Stirling	7	8	111.3
West Dunbartonshire	4	5	68.0
West Lothian	2	2	16.2

Homelessness services run by local authorities provide temporary accommodation for those without a settled home and these figures cover this much larger group as well as the minority who were sleeping rough.

Almost half of the people who died while homeless in Scotland in 2022 were under 45 years old. Drug-misuse accounted for 36% of all deaths among people experiencing homelessness. Half of all deaths were classed as “external causes” which include most drug misuse deaths, accidents, suicide and assault.

The figures come from a report classed as Official Statistics in Development because they use a new and evolving methodology which has not yet been assessed against the rigorous quality standards of National Statistics. 

Orkney Islands Council’s Homelessness and Advice Section provided advice and assistance to 136 homeless households during financial year 2020/2021. The Council has a legal duty to provide homeless applicants with appropriate advice and assistance. You must be aged 16 or over to present as homeless. If you are aged under 16 you will be referred to Orkney Health and Care for appropriate help. Click on this link to find out more: Homelessness OIC

Homeless Project Scotland have been campaigning for years for an indoor property and now finally have a secure, safe and warm building to house their life-saving work with the homeless. The prominent soup kitchen have operated since 2019 but were forced to move from their base on Argyll St after opposition from local businesses, to a new spot on the Clydeside – but safety concerns for staff meant they moved back last week.

Now they have a new home for the next three months thanks to Glasgow businessman Barry Cushley, who has handed over the basement of a building his company owns.

Charity boss Colin Macinnes is thrilled to finally be able to deliver a safe sanctuary for struggling people in Glasgow.

“We are over the moon, this is what we have been working towards since the very start – creating a safe space for the people who need it most. This is 100 per cent going to save lives, it will massively reduce the number of deaths on the streets this winter in Glasgow.

“A safe, warm place for us to work, to feed and look after people, is all we have wanted. And now we have it – we want to create a 24 hour welfare centre to provide shelter, warmth, hot food to homeless and vulnerable people. It’s the first of its kind in the UK and we plan to run this for three months to preserve life in the depths of winter.

“We have this building for the next three months initially, so the coldest, most dangerous time of the year. It means the world to us – Barry Cushley has done something no one else in the city has been willing to, he has turned over an area of a building to us to do whatever we need to do to help people.”

Barry Cushley, who runs C&C Group, has signed over the basement of the premium building his company owns in Merchant City, for exclusive use by Homeless Project Scotland for the three months – and wants to continue helping beyond that.

Barry said:

“It broke my heart to see what the team at Homeless Project Scotland are going through with moving to an area they felt unsafe and now going back to where they’d been chased from. I felt I had to do something.

“I am fortunate to be in a position where I can do something to help Colin and his team right now, to get their people and the families they help off the streets for the coldest months of the year. We have been able to give them full use of a private, warm, dry, safe and secure area of a building we own. We have agreed it’s initially for the next three months – Colin will have the keys next week and it’s theirs to operate and manage as they need it.

“We had a very powerful meeting with Colin and Nick from McChuills who I have to thank, he was our point of contact and he has helped us put the whole thing together. Colin is really inspirational and so is Nick. Colin knows what he needs and isn’t afraid to ask for it. I admire that.

“I’ve made mistakes in my life when I was a young idiot but I’m a different guy now and just want to help bring about good things for people who need it – I got a second chance and want to give that to others. It’s vital – everyone deserves a second
chance.”