StreetLink partners with Sainsbury’s to increase support for people sleeping rough

27 Jul 2020 03:22 PM

Blog posted by: Louise Weaver, Monday, 27 July 2020.

A pilot scheme will enable colleagues from six Sainsbury’s stores to alert StreetLink when they see someone sleeping rough at the sites.

For three months from 27 July, Sainsbury’s will become the first retailer to partner with StreetlInk, empowering their colleagues to send alerts to ensure local outreach teams can go out to offer support to people sleeping rough around their stores.

The trial will run in six Sainsbury’s stores, with a view to rolling out further if successful:

The retailer has a history of supporting vulnerable people in the community including listing the Big Issue during the Coronavirus pandemic. With a growing number of people sleeping rough at stores in recent years, and the Government scheme to place people in temporary accommodation during lockdown coming to an end, Sainsbury’s felt it was important to take a more coordinated approach to facilitating connection and support.

StreetLink has done some preparatory work with Sainsbury’s to get it ready to use the service and enable some analysis of the pilot to take place.

All colleagues in the participating stores have been briefed about the partnership, given information on how to use StreetLink, and encouraged to send an alert when they see someone sleeping rough. Sainsbury’s will display materials promoting the partnership, which will include information on how customers can donate to the charity, to further support its work.

StreetLink relies on the support of local communities to help raise awareness, and ensure that information on where people are sleeping rough can be passed on to the appropriate support services to help end their homelessness. The Sainsbury’s partnership is a step towards expanding and improving this process and may lay the foundations for a wider-scale collaboration, between the two organisations, as well as potential partnerships with other retailers in future.