Advertisement
Housing

Michael Sheen ‘ashamed’ of rising homelessness in Wales

Sheen urges the Welsh First Minister to address the country’s rising numbers of rough sleepers, as ITV Wales shines a spotlight on the homelessness crisis

Michael Sheen has delivered a powerful plea to the Welsh Government to tackle rising homelessness in his homeland.

The actor and activist demanded First Minister Carwyn Jones provides more help for the growing number of people sleeping rough in Cardiff and other towns and cities across Wales.

Sheen said: “If you are not prepared to stand up and show brave leadership about supporting the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our society… then who is? Who’s speaking for that Wales?”

The number of rough sleepers in Cardiff has doubled in the past three years. The star said the spike made him “feel ashamed.”

Sheen was speaking as part of ITV Wales’ week-long special coverage of the homelessness crisis.

Andrea Byrne, presenter of Wales This Week, spent 24 hours on the streets of Cardiff speaking to people without a home.

Advertisement
Advertisement

“I was struck by how many different kinds of individual stories there are,” she told The Big Issue. “The amazing response to our coverage shows how passionate and engaged people are with this issue.”

Byrne’s programme Wales This Week found all 216 hostel bed spaces in Cardiff were often full up, forcing others to seek a final few emergency places or sleep on the streets.

Iain Ephram, co-ordinator at Cardiff Council said 58 new rough sleepers had been identified in only six weeks. “Clearly the options we have (for emergency accommodation) have to increase.”

Many of The Big Issue’s vendors say they don’t like to stay in hostels because they are often chaotic places where drug abuse occurs. Byrne heard similar stories.

“It seems people who are trying to recover from alcohol and substance misuse don’t like to go there because they don’t want to exacerbate their habit,” she said.

“The council and hostels are trying to do their best within the system as it is, but the resources are stretched.”

It’s crucial we see what can be done to help vulnerable people before they reach they the point they don’t have a roof over their head

Byrne said the preventing people from becoming homelessness in the first place – something Big Issue founder Lord John Bird has repeatedly emphasised – was vital.

“It’s crucial we see what can be done to help vulnerable people before they reach they the point they don’t have a roof over their head,” she said. “Nobody wants to see people in that situation.”

Michael Sheen said he found it “incredibly concerning” that the Welsh Government was discussing cuts to the Supporting People grants that fund both emergency and supported, “move-on” accommodation for homeless people to stop them falling back onto the streets.

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

Read All
'We must remove the shackles of stigma': Five ways Labour wants to shake-up Right to Buy
Labour deputy prime minister abd housing secretary Angela Rayner
Right to Buy

'We must remove the shackles of stigma': Five ways Labour wants to shake-up Right to Buy

Rents in UK are rising at highest rate in decades. Will they keep going up?
rents uk
Renting

Rents in UK are rising at highest rate in decades. Will they keep going up?

Mum-of-three hit with 'revenge eviction' after asking for repairs: 'It felt like the end of the world'
Hazell and her three kids faced homelessness until Shelter stepped in
Renting

Mum-of-three hit with 'revenge eviction' after asking for repairs: 'It felt like the end of the world'

Housing minister admits Labour's 1.5 million homes promise will be 'more difficult than expected'
Labour housing minister Matthew Pennycook
Housebuilding

Housing minister admits Labour's 1.5 million homes promise will be 'more difficult than expected'

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue