MyLondon spotlights capital’s homelessness crisis

MyLondon, the online news site focused on the capital from publisher Reach, has launched a project highlighting homelessness in London.

“Rough: The Stories Behind London’s Homelessness Crisis” is spearheaded by a mini-site that contains all of MyLondon’s content related to this topic.

Key features include a video interview with London mayor Sadiq Khan, a picture gallery that documents the reality of the capital’s homelessness crisis and an interactive map that shows the names and faces of the homeless.

They sit alongside a series of interviews featuring real homeless people.

MyLondon senior reporter Luke Donnelly is project lead for “Rough”.

He said: “In all corners of London, the scourge of rough-sleeping is inescapable. When travelling for stories across the city, our reporters have noticed more begging on trains, more cardboard signs outside supermarkets and more tents on green spaces.

“We’ve all seen studies in recent years showing this rise and how politicians have pledged to tackle it. But it’s the stories of rough sleepers themselves which truly illustrate what’s happening on our streets.

“In this project, we’ve not done anything radical by speaking to people on the street. But we hope by bringing photos and unique voices to as wide an audience as possible, this scandal might be recognised for what it is.”

MyLondon plans to continue reporting on some of the individual stories and also focus on key topics such as hostile architecture and temporary accommodation.