So, while London is making life as horrendous as possible for homeless people, Vancouver is being all lovely and stuff. That, at least, is the gist of reports such as this, from the Independent:
“When the management of a block of luxury flats in London felt they had an issue with homeless people sleeping on the doorstep, their solution was apparently to install a set of spikes… Perhaps [London] could look to the work of a charity in Vancouver for inspiration. RainCity Housing, which provides specialised accommodation and support services for homeless people in the Canadian city, has set up instant pop-up shelters that take the form of an ordinary park bench.”
They’re not the only publication to draw this contrast. Actually, though, it turns out that the benches aren’t part of any great leap forward in facilities for the homeless. They were part of an ad campaign.
Over two months last autumn, RainCity modified seven benches, as a way of promoting its services. Three were adorned with photosensitive type which lit up with the words “this is a bedroom” at night; four with a foldout rain shelter marked “find shelter here”. All seven were emblazoned with RainCity’s office address to encourage rough sleepers to seek housing help.
Bill Briscall, the charity’s communications manager, says they weren’t trying to make outdoor sleeping a more attractive proposition: “We see the benches as a conversation, a reminder that people really do sleep on benches.”
This may have backfired slightly. People from as far afield as Los Angeles, New Zealand and the rest of Canada have contacted RainCity saying they are keen to have similar benches installed in their cities, too.
