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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
James Tapper

‘A source of national shame’: shelters in England turn young people away as number of rough sleepers soar

A figure stands to the right of a blue tent, one of a tent encampment on the pavement in Manchester city centre in mid-February.
Tents used by homeless people in Manchester city centre earlier this month. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Holly Udobang is packing the last bag: a sleeping mat, gloves, woolly hat, waterproof poncho, hand warmers. It’s the sort of kit that teenagers might need for a Duke of Edinburgh trip.

But this bag is for young homeless people, to give them a fighting chance of getting some sleep on the streets of London. Holly and her colleagues at the New Horizon Youth Centre are packing them to give to the young people they now have to turn away every day, as an increasing number of emergency shelters shut their doors.

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