They’ve educated kings and prime ministers. Yet some academics at University of Oxford – one of the most prestigious schools on the planet – now depend on charity simply to survive.
It recently emerged that lecturers had turned to a local charity, Oxford Gatehouse, for food and a place to shower.
This should be a national scandal, yet it is just one more story in a country where 161,000 children are homeless and toddlers are forced into tired B&Bs just so they have a roof over their heads.
It should also be a national scandal that, once rent or mortgage payments come out, more than a fifth of us are living in poverty while we now have more homeless people than at any point in the country’s history.
We shouldn’t just be angry about all of this. We should be furious. So why aren’t we?
I run a national charity, CEO Sleepout, which isn’t about one cold night on the streets but about driving lasting change.
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Every pound we raise helps frontline charities keeping people fed, housed and hopeful. But we also open eyes and hearts.
This year, we are staging a record number of fundraising events across Britain. And it isn’t because we all enjoy sleeping outdoors in November. We are doing so out of necessity.
Demand on the services we support has reached breaking point.
Bianca Robinson, head of CEO Sleepout
Our Manchester CEO sleepout takes place on 3 November at Emirates Lancashire Cricket Ground. Our fundraisers will fortunately have warm food, drinks and sleeping bags, but government stats show that across the same city that night, around 112 others will be sleeping rough which no such guarantees.
Three days later we head to Sunderland where, on average, a family turns to the council for temporary accommodation every 12 hours. And in London – our penultimate fundraiser of 2025 – rough sleeping has soared by 63% in a decade.
Yet the sad reality is we are increasingly becoming numb to the scale of it.
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
A decade ago, that Oxford university story may have been raised in parliament. The sheer concept that the crème de la crème of academia couldn’t afford to eat (due, it seems, to Oxford’s crippling housing market) would have felt preposterous.
However, we’ve somehow allowed hunger and poverty to become engrained in the fabric of British life. And when that happens, the concept of starving academics no longer feels shocking.
But when we stop being shocked, we stop demanding change. That itself must change, and housing must be high on that agenda.
In Oxford it is no surprise likely well-paid academics are struggling to cover their water bills – they are barely keeping their heads above it.
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On average, a private rental in Oxford costs almost £1,900 a month. According to the Office of National Statistics, that’s risen by almost 12% in just one year.
If Oxford uni lecturers can’t afford rent, what chance does a care worker or nursery assistant have?!
Yet affordable access to housing is one of the ways we can help millions escape poverty’s cruel clutch. A stable home is the foundation for everything.
In a volatile world and an unpredictable economy, ownership (or a long-term lease) gives people protection and control over their future.
Yet if you can’t buy – or struggle to pay sky-high rental rates – you are banished to a lifetime of vulnerability.
The government is building more homes, but more support to help people get onto the property ladder is just as crucial.
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
But there needs to be more permanent solutions, such as social housing. Last year alone, councils across the country spent a staggering £732 million on temporary accommodation.
Government after government has vowed to do more – with some even pledging to end rough sleeping – yet homelessness is at a record high. To turn the tide, we all need to pull together and play our part.
This year, CEO Sleepout’s campaign is called ‘At Your Doorstep’ and aims to show howhomelessness isn’t some distant issue.
For business leaders, it isn’t just on the commute – some of your staff could very well be a pay cheque away from the streets.
We hope it serves as a blunt wake-up call to leaders and entrepreneurs to show how they are uniquely positioned to transform lives for the better.
Yes, times are tough. The National Insurance hike has hurt. But as wealth creators, we can do more to restore society’s balance.
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
That’s why we need as many as possible to volunteer to spend just one night sleeping outdoors this winter. Is it easy? Warm? Comfortable? No.
But those who participate leave with a far greater appreciation for what thousands endure every night, and a realisation that they can be difference makers in this fight. And it is a fight we need.
Because we can’t go on like this. Not with hungry professors and children unsure where they’ll sleep tonight.
It is time to be shocked again – and to turn that shock into action.
