When Andy Burnham made ending rough sleeping his first pledge as Prime Minister the news was met with an understandable amount of cynicism by those who work tirelessly to keep people off the streets.
Part of that is a sad reflection of the mistrust many people now have of our elected politicians and the success rates of their many pledges, but much of it comes from seeing first-hand the impact of both national and local public sector cuts on the ability to tackle this country’s growing housing and homelessness crisis.
But I see it differently.
Whilst it’s too early to gauge the success or otherwise of our new Prime Minister, he does at least have a track record in this area, having been part of a campaign that helped to reduce rough sleeping and homelessness in Greater Manchester, during his time as Mayor.
He’s even pledged to donate 15% of his salary to homeless charities, a good example of putting your money where your mouth is and I see no reason to regard this as anything other than a genuine pledge, rather than a tactic to make himself look kind and caring.
However, beyond the promised £442m of funding, there’s another reason why I was delighted to see him put the issue so high on his early agenda – it sets a positive example to the rest of the country.
With his pledge, Burnham is quite rightly saying that homelessness is not only something no-one should go through – it’s also something everyone should care about.
And, in this fractious society we currently live in, where compassion, care and kindness towards others seems to be harder to come by, that’s an important statement to make.
I hope that, at the very least, it may make a few more people take stock and show compassion to those who find themselves in such a position in their life.
Because, as the cliché rightly states, homelessness can happen to pretty much anyone.
Confirmation of this fact has been one of the key learning points during my first few weeks as CEO of St Martins, as I have spent time meeting our clients and hearing their back stories.
Their testimonies prove that life can unravel fast and before you know it you need a helping hand. And I’m pretty sure all of us would hope for a lift up if we found ourselves at rock bottom in life.
It’s a belief that people deserve support in their hour of need that has led me to want to work at St Martins and even in just the first few weeks I’ve been staggered and impressed by how wide-reaching the charity’s impact.
The fact St Martins employs nearly 200 people, helping hundreds at numerous locations across Norwich, is not only a sign of its success and impact, but also just how real this problem is in our city.
Which also brings me back to Andy Burnham’s statement and another key point the government needs to be fully on top of should their ambitions succeed.
Homelessness is about so much more than just rough sleeping. And finding a solution is about much more than just putting a roof over someone’s head.
Of course, this is the sharp end, the bit that so many of us see on a day-to-day basis. However, increasing numbers of people, single people, couples and families, young and old, have nowhere secure to sleep each night.
Instead, they find themselves sofa-surfing, in hostels, hotels or B and Bs or finding a bed or beds wherever they can.
And to tackle this deep-rooted and complicated problem, money needs to flow into not just providing accommodation for people, but the support they need to help them get back on their feet and grow again.
At St Martins we have adopted the ‘Housing First’ model, the basic premise of which is if you can give someone stability in terms of where to live, you then have a solid foundation from which to wraparound all of the other support needed to stay away from homelessness in the long-term.
But that requires serious investment. People’s circumstances are becoming ever more complex, numerous and difficult to untangle.
The rewards of doing so will be plentiful and long-lasting for all of us, but the cost will be high.
And in Norfolk, even with all of the frustrating twists and turns in future local government make up, now is the time for the powers that be to look more closely at how they fund homeless services and the support that needs to be wrapped around it.
Whether that is helping people manage their mental health, overcome addiction, avoid debt and destitution or prevent them from becoming caught up in the criminal justice system.
Because if we are serious about ending rough sleeping and homelessness, we must be serious about ending the circumstances that cause people to end up on the streets in the first place.
And that isn’t just a job for government, councils or charities. It’s something all of us should care about.