700 children in Yorkshire face homeless Christmas

More than 700 children in Yorkshire are homeless and facing Christmas in cramped hostels or bed and breakfast rooms, an investigation by Shelter has found.
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They are among 80,000 youngsters across Britain who are living in temporary accommodation, the housing charity warns as it launches an emergency appeal today in their aid.

Its investigation, involving 25 families currently or recently living in B&Bs, found children living in “desperate” conditions.

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Almost half the families reported their children having witnessed disturbing incidents such as open drug use and violent threats, with one directly aimed at a child.

The majority said they felt unsafe in their emergency accommodation.

Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb said the findings were shocking and shameful.

Parents and children sharing beds, children forced to eat on the floor and being threatened with violence in the place they live: this shouldn’t be happening in 21st century Britain,” he said.

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“No child should be homeless, let alone 80,000. But tragically, with more people struggling to make ends meet and homelessness on the rise, we’re bracing ourselves for an increase in demand from families who desperately need our help.”

The number of families temporarily housed in B&Bs is already at a ten-year high.

The majority of those Shelter interviewed had lived together in one room, while in over half of the cases investigated, children were sharing beds with their parents or siblings. Two thirds said their children had no table to eat meals on, and often had to eat on the floor or on the bed.

Nearly half had to share a kitchen and three families had no cooking facilities at all. One family reported sharing a cooker and a fridge with 22 other people.

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More than half of the families had to share a bathroom or toilet with strangers, with 10 forced to share with seven or more other people.

One family living in a B&B with their daughter reported a man threatening to “smash her face in” after an argument about a shared bathroom.

Mr Robb said: “Our advisers will be working with families facing homelessness every day this Christmas to help them find a safe place to live and get back on their feet – but we urgently need more support this year to be there for these children.”

To support the appeal visit www.shelter.org.uk