Get help for someone who is sleeping rough

In Croydon, there are several agencies and accommodation providers offering advice, support, and shelter to get rough sleepers off the streets.

Our outreach team works with rough sleepers to refer them to partner organisations and help them find accommodation and support.

If you need to refer a service user who will have nowhere suitable to live when they leave your care,  refer someone under the duty to refer.

How to get help

Call 999 if the person is in immediate danger, needs medical assistance, is under 18 or is with someone who is under 18.

If you are worried about someone sleeping rough please contact our Homeless Intervention & Prevention Team on homeless-intervention@croydon.gov.uk or call 020 8726 6000. 

Streetlink

If you're worried about someone who is sleeping on the streets in Croydon you can ask us to help them through Streetlink. 

Streetlink is an independent charity we work with to locate people sleeping on the streets and find them a place to stay.

When you tell Streetlink about someone sleeping rough, they locate them and pass their details to us for homelessness support.

Make sure you have this information ready:

• the person's location
• the time you saw them
• a description of them

Tell Streetlink about someone sleeping rough.

What happens during severe weather

The number of people sleeping on our streets is increasing and during the winter months or periods of extreme heat, rough sleepers face additional health risks. With the rising number of rough sleepers, we remain committed to protecting the most vulnerable in the community.

There is a Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) in Croydon. This protocol comes into force during periods of severe weather (0°c or below), and emergency accommodation is provided to all rough sleepers during this time.

During periods of extreme heat, the H-SWEP protocol will be applied. Our teams will provide enhanced outreach to rough sleepers and assess their needs as appropriate.

We also alert Croydon residents when SWEP is activated via social media.

We encourage members of the community to use the Streetlink app to raise concerns about rough sleepers in severe weather.

What the outreach team do 

The outreach team and rough sleeping team are the co-ordination point for engaging with rough sleepers and partners during SWEP. 

• the team will check our database and refer rough sleepers to suitable accommodation 
• when temperatures rise and SWEP is deactivated, we ensure no one leaves their temporary accommodation without a support plan 
• we work with partners and create long-term solutions for rough sleeping

We encourage partners to engage with the outreach team and contact us if they have known rough sleepers that they want to alert us about. Please email swep@croydon.gov.uk.