Support and information about homelessness

Contact LSE security staff - call 020 7955 655 or speak to a member of the team.

In the case that students or staff report a homeless person, our security officers will go out to investigate. Security currently monitors and records all homeless activity on the LSE campus and all LSE Security staff (both employed and contracted) have completed Homeless Wise Training in partnership with St Mungo’s on the causes of homelessness, the relationship between homelessness and housing, employment, mental ill health and substance abuse.

They will give advice about organisations (St Mungo’s or other charities) who support vulnerable people so they know how to contact local services for help. If any issue has been flagged, they will try to resolve the situation. In many cases all that may be required is a polite reminder to the individual about their behaviour.

In some cases, for example if they sleep on a fire exit, use school property in an inappropriate way or persistently display an unacceptable behaviour, an individual might need to be removed from the school property.

In such cases our staff are required to:

• Politely ask the person to leave school property, explaining the reason and giving options as to organisations they can contact for shelter and support.
• Behave in the most professional and courteous manner whilst maintaining control of the situation.

In all these situations, the homeless person will be treated with respect and will be provided with all the information and advice that could help them.

Use Streetlink

Streetlink is a government-backed platform that helps connect information about people sleeping rough in England and Wales to the support provided by local authorities and charities. This includes anyone who is sleeping outside, preparing to bed down, or sleeping somewhere not designed for habitation, such as a car.

To make these connections, the platform relies on alerts submitted by members of the public and people sleeping rough. You can make reports about others or yourself.

To make a report, you'll need provide information about where the person you are concerned about is and a brief description of the time you saw them and their appearance (to help with finding them).

You can make a report by clicking here or by using the app.

Please note, however, that StreetLink is for adults only. If the person you are concerned about is under 18, you should call 999.

If you / they are a student at LSE:

The LSE Students Union (SU) has an advice service that can offer online and in-person appointments. They can be contacted by emailing su.advice@lse.ac.uk - please provide an outline of the issue in your email.

There are also other forms of support that LSE and the SU can offer, such as financial assistance in some cases - you can read more about these clicking here. 

LSE also has a wellbeing service for students that provides support more generally, including counselling services and a 24/7 mental health support line - you can find out more by clicking here. 

If you / they are a member of staff or not part of the School

LSE has a Benevolent Fund which can offer a financial safety net providing relief to members of staff unexpected financial pressures, which you can read more about here. Members of staff can also access wellbeing services which you can access here. 

You can use this link to find your/their local council, which is responsible for supporting those in their area who are, or are at risk of becoming, homeless.

There are also a number of different charities that focus on homelessness. Shelter has an emergency helpline - 0808 800 4444, open Mon to Fri, 8am to 6pm - that can offer advice, including to those who need an interpreter or are deaf or have a speech impairment. They also offer housing advice more broadly, which you can access here.

Other charities that offer support include St Mungo's, Centrepoint, and Crisis.

If you are a student:

The LSE Volunteer Centre is a team of staff dedicated to connecting students to opportunities to volunteer for causes they are passionate about. You can read more about how this works by clicking here and you can speak to them directly by emailing volunteer@lse.ac.uk. You can also visit the centre itself, which is opposite the Marshall Building and in-between the George IV pub and the LSE gift shop.

The LSE Homeless Action society is a group of students passionate about ending homelessness and poverty and who organise events and opportunities to volunteer and campaign on these issues. You can join or read more about the society by clicking here.

If you are a member of staff:

The LSE Homelessness Initiative is a collaboration between the School and the Students’ Union to lead and empower the LSE community to play a meaningful, active, and leading role in alleviating homelessness in our local community and to support efforts to end homelessness in society.

You can learn more by clicking here 

All members of staff are able to take up to five days of leave for the purpose of volunteering. This might then be used for activities that ‘give back’ to a community, for learning new skills or undertaking some other work outside LSE which is beneficial to personal wellbeing. You can read more about this here.