A CHARITY for the homeless is increasing its work in Huddersfield.

Simon On The Streets provides support for those with complex problems who would otherwise be ineligible for mainstream services.

A full-time worker was appointed in Huddersfield in April last year, and the organisation now hopes to take on a second full-time worker in the town.

The organisation differs from other charities for the homeless in that its staff work directly on the streets, building up relationships with rootless and homeless individuals.

The organisation, assisted by KMG Support, have an office in Huddersfield but workers spend 75% of their time on the streets.

Clive Sandle, director of the Leeds-based charity, said: “The issues that we deal with are normally related to alcohol, drugs and housing.

“All the people that we deal with usually suffer with one and we are finding increasingly that they are suffering with all three.

“There is a problem with alcohol in Huddersfield – more so than in Leeds – but then each area has different problems.

“The alcohol problem in Huddersfield is more visible, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and the authorities are working hard to combat the alcohol issues.

“But in terms of rough sleepers, there are people we do not see and people that every night will have nowhere to go.

“They do not have the cash to spend another night on a sofa or a floor and that’s the all-round problem that we try to address.

“Our service is for those people that will not engage with other services and often say they like sleeping rough.

“If someone enters Lifeline and will not co-operate fully or who turns aggressive, the service cannot help them any further.

“We go that one step further; we support those who are excluded from, or who refuse, the intervention of other services.

“This group of people are often identified as those who will not achieve progress and they are therefore left unsupported.”

Simon On the Streets was founded 11 years ago in Leeds and was born out of the Simon Community in London, where homeless people and volunteers live and work together.

Clive outlined the emotional support required to reach the deep-rooted problems associated with homelessness.

He said: “We recently had one case of a woman in a shelter. She was interviewed and asked about previous convictions. She went mad when she was asked; stormed out of the shelter and they were about to give up on her.

“One of our members of staff followed her out and found out that she was raped by her step-dad as a child, and her conviction came from when she stabbed him to stop him.

“The problems cannot be dealt with on a surface level, they are deep-rooted.

“Providing someone who is sleeping rough with housing will not always sort the issue, it can sometimes make it worse.”

The charity’s latest campaign, #iamwithsimon has just topped the Twitter trends in West Yorkshire.

And depending on the success of their sponsored sleep rough in Leeds on September 29, they hope to organise a similar event in Huddersfield.

For more information about the organisation or the sponsored sleep rough visit www.simononthestreets.org.uk