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Manchester residents want to stop children sleeping on the streets

5 May 2017 - 11:30 by michelle.foster

Caring people from across Greater Manchester are sleeping on the streets in Hulme showing their solidarity with homeless children. Congo street children at the centre

Supporters of two Manchester-based charities working with street-connected children will join together on Saturday 13 May to promote the rights of children living on the streets around the world. They will sleep on the streets to show that they are tired of the injustice that any child should have to sleep on the streets in 2017.

The two organising charities, S.A.L.V.E. International and Congo Children Trust, are based in Manchester and support children who are living on the streets in Africa. They want to discuss the current challenges for children living on the streets, how children typically become homeless and what Manchester residents can do to help. In Uganda Unicef estimates there are more than 10,000 children living on the streets.

The most recent Government statistics for Statutory Homelessness for 2016, place the number at 326 people in Manchester alone. In the UK as whole, 4,134 people are estimated to have been sleeping rough in 2016**.

In 2013/14, the Young People’s Support Foundation (YPSF) helped 489 young people in Manchester between 16 and 17 years old to live safely off the streets**. Manchester is a caring city that campaigns for real change, which is why this event is being held here where homelessness deserves urgent attention.

Founding Director of the Kimbilio project at Congo Children’s Trust, Ian Harvey, who has lived in Whalley Range, says, ‘The Congo rarely makes it to the front pages of the UK news despite ongoing conflict and unrest. This is having a negative impact on the lives of thousands of children who are surviving on the streets of Congo's towns and cities. They are extremely vulnerable to abuse and illness living in such conditions. It is vital that charities such as the Congo Children Trust play their part to highlight the needs of these children and continue to provide appropriate and holistic care to ensure they have a more positive future’.

The Solidarity Sleepout is free to join and will take place outside the Parish Church of the Ascension on Stretford Road in Hulme. This Church has been a historic defender of human rights. In 1989, the church was home to asylum seeker Viraj Mendis who, when fighting deportation to Sri Lanka, was protected by the people of Hulme and housed here for 760 days before he was removed by police. Marches of support and mass meetings were held and 30,000 - 40,000 people visited the church during this time. Mendis now lives in Germany helping other asylum seekers to realise their rights. Now in 2017, it is selected again as the site of a human rights struggle, as volunteers want to raise awareness of the rights of children living on streets in Manchester and all over the world.

Whilst these charities do great work supporting homeless children in Africa, there are still many children living on the streets all over the world who need our help to raise awareness of their situation and fight for their rights.

Co-founder and CEO of S.A.L.V.E. International, Nicola Sansom, who lives in Stalybridge told us, ‘There is a growing population of people living on the streets in Manchester and across the world, due to inequality in their community and lack of a social safety net. I believe that no-one should have to live on the streets, most especially children. In Uganda we are supporting children as young as 6 years old who run away to the streets to survive. I believe this is unacceptable in 2017, and am excited to be part of this opportunity to draw attention to this issue and show how we can create much needed change‘.

All are invited to participate in the Solidarity Sleepout, or come along to the evening activities (from 7pm onwards) and join other Manchester residents to find out how you can help end child homelessness.

You can find out more information and signup for your free place here: https://goo.gl/BkQrui

*Government statistics from Homeless Link at www.homeless.org.uk
**Statistics from The Young People’s Support Foundation (YPSF) at www.ypsf.co.uk

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