When I started The Knowledge I was shocked to see so many rough sleepers in shop doorways. Now a cross-party group of London Councils report that nearly 170,000 people in London are homeless, i.e. they’re living in hostels, bedsits, or other temporary accommodation. That’s an increase of about 17,000 from last year and means that one in 50 people in the city are now classed as homeless. Most depressingly, “the organisation estimates that this includes more than 83,000 children”.
CabbieBlog 
Rough sleepers were a big percentage of ambulance calls by the mid-1980s. Then once I worked for the police, removing them from the doorways of theatres, bars, and cinemas was a daily ritual on the early shifts.
The worst I ever saw concerning people living on the streets was the notorious ‘Cardboard City’ around Waterloo Station in the 1980s.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’ve never visited Cardboard City, but I wondered what became of the ‘residents’ once the IMAX was built. Thanks again for your comment.
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I don’t drive in London much (I lack the Knowledge). Before I had a SatNav I had to deliver a printer stand that I had made to my brother’s office on Mint Street (on the corner of Cable Street). I got lost and ended up crossing I think Blackfriars Bridge, this was during the late eighties or early nineties, as I drove along people were settling down in shop doorways with bits of cardboard and anything else they could find to try and stay warm.
Meanwhile, Mercedes, Jaguars, Bentleys and the like, drove by. I was appalled then, as I am now.
As a nation, we should and can do better.
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Unfortunately nothing has changed from the 90s when I was on The Knowledge. Thanks for the comment.
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