I keep seeing posts on Facebook about homeless people in Wrexham and a common response is “we need to help them” – giving them food, clothes, somewhere warm to take drugs (fix room), temporary shelter – the latest idea being to turn the old Groves school into a temporary homeless shelter.
Now, I’ve spoken to some of these people in Wrexham and some of them aren’t local – they’ve “relocated” here because Wrexham still has decent (and even improving) “services” aimed at them, whereas their local area (e.g. Denbighshire, Chester, Flintshire) has been closing their services due to cuts.
Whilst I think we need to help homeless, I think this should involve tackling the sources of homelessness like poverty, education, social housing and healthcare – not treating the symptoms. There is also a danger that the more of these quick fixes we provide, the more homeless people will be attracted to relocating to Wrexham and the problem grows.