Can Andy Burnham end rough sleeping?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Can Andy Burnham End Rough Sleeping?

Today in Focus | The Guardian — July 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode, hosted by Helen Peard with reporting from Jessica Murray, explores Andy Burnham’s ambitious pledge—first as Mayor of Greater Manchester, now as Prime Minister—to end rough sleeping. By focusing on projects like Manchester’s Embassy Village, the episode examines what’s worked, why homelessness remains stubbornly persistent, and whether Burnham’s nationwide promise is achievable.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene—Embassy Village and Lived Experience

• [01:19–04:11] Helen visits Embassy Village, Britain’s first purpose-built village for homeless people, developed by the Christian charity Embassy under Manchester’s railway viaducts.
  • The area, once plagued by drug paraphernalia and rough sleeping, is now a clean, landscaped community.
  • First resident Chris, 57, receives his keys:

    “If I didn't know, wasn't expecting being like this… It's really nice. So somebody's already made the bed for you?” (Chris, 03:54)

2. Andy Burnham’s Approach in Manchester

• [05:11–06:33] Andy Burnham, upon becoming Mayor in 2017, launched “A Bed Every Night”—a low-barrier service providing a bed and essential wraparound support.
  • No local-connection requirement; anyone sleeping rough could access shelter and caseworker support.
  • Resulted in a 57% reduction in rough sleeping between 2017 and 2020.
  • Jessica Murray explains:

    “Essentially did what it said on the tin… There was a very low barrier to entry… And it also included a lot of wraparound support.” (Jessica Murray, 05:33)

3. Longer-Term Solutions—Housing First

• [06:44–07:57] Manchester trialed “Housing First”, offering directly-accessed secure homes to those with the most complex needs.

  • 330 tenancies with an 82% retention rate.
  • The wraparound support is key:

    “It’s not just about the bricks and mortar… it’s also having the care and the support so that they are able to sustain it in the long term.” (Jessica Murray, 07:24)

• Embassy Village embodies this approach. Andy Burnham supported it with significant funding (£1.7m from GMCA; paid for support workers).

4. Embassy Village—How it Works

• [08:37–12:29] Sid Williams, Embassy’s founder, describes their “housing first” ethos.

  • Residents must engage in training for work and independent living (e.g., cooking, budgeting) tailored to their backgrounds.
  • Employment and community are crucial; over 100 local businesses contributed, many offering jobs.
  • Selection criteria: homeless at time of application, motivated for work/independence, no current drug or alcohol problems.

• Sid on valuing residents:

  “We want them to feel like, wow, I’ve landed on my feet… we want them to feel valued.” (Sid Williams, 08:37)

  “Typically, between 90 and 95% of people leave us with a job and no longer on benefits and go to private rental.” (Sid Williams, 09:01)

5. Lived Realities—Changing Nature of Homelessness

• [13:00–14:02] Sid explains most homelessness is hidden—primarily caused by financial and relationship breakdowns, not substance misuse.
  • “About 60% of homeless people is just to do with relationship breakdown.” (Sid Williams, 13:53)

6. Real Impact—Personal Stories

• [14:54–17:32] Resident Albert’s journey: university graduate, business owner, became homeless after setbacks. His story demonstrates the rapid descent into homelessness, but also the effectiveness of swift intervention via “A Bed Every Night” and transfer to Embassy.

  “The day I got the job… was the day I was sleeping in the park. So I was like, this is great. I've got the best paid job I've ever had in my life and I'm homeless.” (Albert, 15:33)

  “[Embassy Village] speaks for itself. …Rooms, the bedrooms. I’ve paid for rooms smaller than that, £550 a month.” (Albert, 17:04)

7. Successes and Challenges

• [17:57–20:30]
  • Filling up: 23 out of 41 units occupied, deliberately paced for culture and community.
  • Partnerships with 26 businesses; residents moving into jobs, e.g., with Cara Brickwork.
  • Residents care for their environment and each other (e.g., team-building to help local geese).
  • Human connection and culture seen as essential:

    “We’ve never had a fight in the history of embassy, either. …It’s partly to do with environment… with people feeling valued.” (Sid Williams, 18:15)

8. Can Burnham Deliver Nationwide?

• [22:41–25:50]

  • 4,793 counted rough sleepers in UK as of autumn 2025—a 160% increase since 2010.
  • Counting is imperfect; most rough sleeping is hidden (esp. women).
  • Burnham pledges £340 million new money, focus on 3,000 entrenched rough sleepers.
  • Charities are optimistic due to Burnham’s record but want clear policy details.

  “We know how to do this… it’s just getting the funding and political commitment.” (Jessica Murray, 25:10)
  “He was donating 15% of his salary towards ending homelessness every month… and he’s doing the same as Prime Minister.” (Jessica Murray, 25:44)

9. Resident & Practitioner Perspectives on Burnham’s Pledge

• [26:15–29:24]
  • Chris (resident): skeptical, says not everyone wants to be housed—some prefer the street for practical reasons.

    “They prefer to be out on the street than actually be in accommodation. …When you’re outside, you don’t pay for anything.” (Chris, 27:00)

  • Sid (Embassy): supportive but realistic; praises Burnham’s ambition and the value of aiming high.

    “If you shoot for the ceiling, you’ll get two foot off the ground, but if you shoot for the stars, you might hit the ceiling.” (Sid Williams, 28:13) “Can you imagine if we hadn’t done a bed every night…? The intention is right. If you don’t aim big, you won’t do anything big.” (Sid Williams, 29:10)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Valuing People:

  “The first guy who ever set foot on our tour bus… burst into tears and said, ‘Now I feel valued.’” (Sid Williams, 08:54)

• On Changing Demographics:

  “You might walk past 10 people who you didn’t realize were homeless… Most homelessness is hidden.” (Sid Williams, 13:37)

• On Ambition v. Reality:

  “We know what we need to do. …If this time next year I’m out of a job, that is ideal.” (Jessica Murray, 25:50)

• On Policy Ambition:

  “If you don’t aim big, you won’t do anything big.” (Sid Williams, 29:10)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:19] Embassy Village, first resident Chris moves in—scene setting
• [04:11] Andy Burnham’s history and initial pledges
• [05:33–07:57] “A Bed Every Night” and Housing First innovations
• [08:37–12:29] Sid Williams explains the philosophy and practice at Embassy
• [13:00–14:02] Changing profile of homelessness
• [14:54–17:32] Albert's journey out of homelessness
• [17:57–20:30] Outcomes and stories from Embassy
• [22:41] UK-wide challenge, data, and critique of counting methods
• [24:58] Charities’ optimism and doubts about achieving Burnham's goal
• [26:15–29:24] Resident and founder perspectives on the feasibility of ending rough sleeping

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Overall Tone & Takeaway

The episode is empathetic, hopeful, and honest—highlighting both the transformative impact of focused, well-resourced local projects and the scale of the challenge that remains. While Burnham’s determination and track record inspire optimism among advocates, skepticism lingers over whether ambitious pledges can overcome structural obstacles and personal barriers to solving rough sleeping.

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Listen and learn more at theguardian.com or support Embassy Village at embassyvillage.co.uk.

Transcript

[Helen Peard]

This is the Guardian.

[Jessica Murray]

Today we head to Manchester to see how Andy Burnham got on when he tried to end rough sleeping.

[Podcast Announcer]

Today.

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[Resident Albert]

Life.

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[Helen Peard]

It's a breezy day in mid March and I'm walking along the canal in central Manchester. I've just passed the Castlefield district where you can easily pay seven pounds for a pint and a one bed flat will cost you at least a grand in rent every month. I'm here to visit the first resident of a different kind of community. Embassy is Britain's first purpose built village for homeless people. Constructed under two Victorian viaducts carrying the city's trams and trains. How's things? Hey, nice you to see.

[Jessica Murray]

See ya.

[Sid Williams]

Dealing with the wind.

[Resident Chris]

I know.

[Helen Peard]

It's so windy today, isn't it? I'm saying hello to Sid Williams. Embassy Village is his baby. He's the director and co founder of Embassy, a Christian charity. I was last here with him four and a half years ago when it could not have looked more different. There were syringes everywhere, broken glass. We found one man sleeping on a filthy mattress underneath a leaking railway arch. And with Joel, a Guardian photographer who back then thought Sid had no chance.

[Jessica Murray]

Joel. You remember Sid?

[Sid Williams]

Well, Sid might not remember me, but I took your picture about four and

[Boost Mobile Advertiser]

a half years ago.

[Sid Williams]

I was the cynical one who said, you won't make it happen. Right, okay.

[Jessica Murray]

Well, you know, believe in miracles.

[Helen Peard]

Embassy Village is a bit of a miracle. 41 pristine flats are surrounded by landscape gardens with ducks and geese swimming in the canals on each side of the village. There are even beehives. It's a big day for Embassy. It's move in day and the first to get his keys is Chris, a 57 year old with an excellent Mohawk.

[Jessica Murray]

So you've got the honour of being the first resident to move in.

[Resident Chris]

I know, but you have nerve wracking in it.

[Helen Peard]

Chris has spent most of his life sleeping rough.

[Jessica Murray]

And do you mind telling me how long you were homeless for?

[Resident Chris]

How long? Best part of my life, really. It's all on you. Yeah. Just traveling from town to town in tents, getting what I can.

[Jessica Murray]

So when's the last time you had your own place?

[Resident Chris]

I think it was about six or seven years ago.

[Jessica Murray]

Okay.

[Helen Peard]

He can't quite believe this is his new home.

[Jessica Murray]

So you've already got your keys. Up to you.

[Resident Chris]

Nice. If I didn't know, wasn't expecting being like this.

[Jessica Murray]

What do you think?

[Resident Chris]

It's really nice. Yeah.

[Jessica Murray]

So somebody's already made the bed for you?

[Resident Chris]

No. That's good. You can come every day.

[Jessica Murray]

So how does this compare to where you've been living recently?

[Resident Chris]

It's different. A lot different. So I think I'm lucky. Very lucky.

[Resident Albert]

Yeah.

[Helen Peard]

When he became the mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017, Andy Burnham pledged to end rough sleeping. He never quite managed it, but during the nine years he ran the region, a whole array of innovative projects popped up. Like Embassy Village. Trying to get people off the streets and into a home. On his very first day as Prime Minister last week, Burnham repeated his pledge, but this time for the whole country.

[Sid Williams]

My first instruction to end rough sleeping in our country.

[Helen Peard]

Can he do it? From the Guardian, I'm Helen Peard. Today in Focus, lessons from Manchester in ending rough sleeping.

[Jessica Murray]

Hi, Jessica Murray. Welcome back to Today in Focus. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

So you're the Guardian social affairs correspondent, the perfect person to speak to about rough sleeping and our Prime Minister's very bold pledge to end it. It was something that was very familiar to me from my years in Greater Manchester, because he promised to do the exact same thing. Then when he was first elected in 20, how did he go about doing it, first of all?

So in Manchester, Andy Burnham launched the A Bed Every night scheme in 2018, which was pretty kind of radical. There's nothing else like it in the country. And essentially kind of did what it said on the tin. It was about getting a bed for anyone in the city who was rough sleeping. Why it was different to what we've seen elsewhere is that there was a very low barrier to entry. So in a lot of other parts of the country, you have to prove a local connection or you have to prove that you're sort of high priority priority needs. There's quite a lot of boxes that you need to tick essentially before you can get access to that support. Whereas in Manchester, it was essentially, if you are rough sleeping and you're in Manchester, you can access that. And it also included a lot of wraparound support. So it wasn't just a bed There was also kind of caseworkers who would help someone if they had mental health problems, drug and alcohol addiction issues, that kind of thing. And had quite a lot of good success in the early years. It really, it brought rough sleeping down in the city. From between 2017 and 2020, it reduced by 57%. So it had a really immediate impact.

But it was qu sort of short term solution, wasn't it? It got people off the streets for that night, maybe the following night. What else did Andy Burnham try out that looked kind of more long term solutions?

He introduced a housing first trial in the City. There was a few parts of the country which did this trial. It's a pilot scheme just sort of targeted towards entrenched rough sleepers who had quite complex needs. And it was essentially, you know, instead of sort of putting them into this kind of temporary emergency accommodation, you'd put them straight into a secure, suitable home. You know, a nice warm bed, a secure space there, own space. And it's a model that has been used throughout the world. And alongside a bed every night scheme, it had a really significant impact. It provided 330 tenancies to people with an 82% retention rate, which is really, really good. And as I say, obviously it was a very small scale trial, but I think there's been a lot of skepticism around it as a model. People think, you know, is it fair or is it sort of productive to give a house straight away to these people who often do have complex needs, which does mean that they have been unable to kind of hold down a tenancy previously, but with right wraparound support and care, I think that's crucial to include here. It's not just about the bricks and mortar, you know, having, having a place to stay. It is also having the care and the support so that they are able to sustain it in the long term.

[Helen Peard]

Embassy Village is an example of housing First. As the name suggests, it means that homeless people are offered a house before they help to tackle their problems, whether that's debt, mental health issues, Substance AB or whatever else. Andy Burnham is a big fan of Housing First. When he was mayor, Greater Manchester Combined Authority contributed 1.7 million pounds towards Embassy 6 million build costs and paid for two of the village's support workers. I first met Sid, Embassy's founder, Pre Covid, when he'd bought up Mumford and Son's old tour bus and was turning it into a mobile homeless shelter. It sounded mad to me, but it worked.

[Sid Williams]

We want them to feel like, wow, I've landed on my feet. I'm going to take this opportunity. And the other thing is, we want them to feel valued. So the first guy who ever set foot on our tour bus, which was the first ever thing we did, he burst into tears and said, now I feel valued.

[Helen Peard]

Embassy's earlier, smaller projects, based in terraced houses around Manchester, have an excellent success rate.

[Sid Williams]

This is like a dress rehearsal that running a home. We're getting people into work. Typically, between 90 and 95% of people leave us with a job and no longer on benefits and go to private rental rather than waiting for council housing.

[Helen Peard]

Even so, when he started talking about building a whole village for rough sleepers, I was sceptical it would ever see the light of day. Well, it did, and now I'm back to see it with my own eyes.

[Sid Williams]

Yeah. Otherwise it just looks like.

[Jessica Murray]

While Chris settles in, Sid is showing me around one of the other flats. It's so nice. Always got that new house smell.

[Resident Chris]

Yeah, everything.

[Jessica Murray]

So it's basically a studio flat, isn't it? So the bedroom, there's a single bed that's in the kitchen.

[Sid Williams]

Yeah, pretty much. And then there's a bath or wet room. It's not a bath, actually. A shower room. Yeah, Nice sort of student accommodation size. And people stay with us on average, just over a year. So, you know, no one's getting a mortgage on this or staying here for life. You're not allowed guests, you're not allowed alcohol. You know, people aren't exactly going to be having house parties here. So for one person who's just come off the street, this is going to be a beautiful place to stay for a period of time. We've done this to a really high quality. These are stone worktops and all. Bosch kit and.

[Jessica Murray]

Yeah, it's nicer than my kitchen, I have to say.

[Resident Chris]

Yeah.

[Helen Peard]

Renta Embassy is covered entirely by each resident's housing benefits. To stay in the village, they have to sign up for courses to prepare them for life outside.

[Sid Williams]

It's compulsory. The compulsory element is stuff like getting ready for work, learning to budget, learning to cook, but it's tailored to each person because sometimes we've had people who are like a chef, so teaching them to cook could be a bit patronizing. So what we've realized over the years is the more fun activities you do, the more people feel human again, because a lot of their meetings are very stressful. Will you. Won't you get this housing? Will you. Won't you get to see your kids again? You know, heavy stuff, but then just to play football or table Tennis or, you know, make pancakes together or watch a film. It's like, oh, it doesn't really matter if I win or lose, you know, it's just about being so. That's really important.

[Jessica Murray]

As a small charity, Embassy could never have paid for the village themselves. The land came from Peel Group, which owns huge swathes of Greater Manchester, including Media City and the Trafford Centre. They also own the canal, which is good news for Chris. He's bought his fishing rod. I hear you're a keen fisherman.

[Resident Chris]

Oh, yeah, yeah, I love it.

[Jessica Murray]

What's the biggest fish you've ever caught?

[Resident Chris]

29 pounder.

[Helen Peard]

The village was built with the help

[Jessica Murray]

of over 100 local businesses working either for nothing or for zero profit. And many of them are also offering jobs and training to the residents. And what's the criteria for residents here? Who will be invited to move in?

[Sid Williams]

Yeah, good question. So we are only taking people who are homeless at the point of application. This isn't open to the general public, it's open to homeless men. So we've actually launched a very, very similar project hidden elsewhere in Greater Manchester last week for women. But it's not on our website, it's not publicised, it's not in the media, even though it's just as great a story, because we have to protect our women. Some women who are homeless are fleeing an abuser. The last thing they want to do is go.

[Helen Peard]

Embassy is not for everyone. They interview each potential resident to ensure that they're really serious about getting into work and living independently. They don't accept people with drug or alcohol problems either.

[Jessica Murray]

There's a lot of people, I think might make the assumption that most people on the streets are drug or alcohol addicts.

[Sid Williams]

Yeah. And that is because when you walk down the street and see somebody who is obviously homeless or begging, they may well be, but you'll have walked past 10 other people that you didn't realize were homeless because they look like you and they weren't sat on the street corner, they were moving around. So I don't think we've. How many people have we helped so far? It's about 150 people. Not a single one was ever begging. So that's interesting, isn't it? And what. I mean, I've been volunteering in this section. I wouldn't say I've been an expert this whole time, but I've been volunteering since 2004. And what. What we found was there is, like, some institutionalised people coming out the care system, the armed forces, prison and shelters. Sadly, in 2004. When it first started, that was most of who was on the street, whereas now we find there's about 3,400% on top of just your average Joe's, people who just can't quite make ends meet anymore. It's to do with financial circumstances and to be fair, it's always been the case that about 60% of homeless people is just to do with relationship breakdown. So that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with substance misuse, it's just that they're either off sleeping or sofa surfing or in a shelter. So most homelessness is hidden.

[Helen Peard]

When Andy Burnham became mayor in 2017, there were 268 people sleeping rough in Greater Manchester. Four years later, that dropped to 89. Covid helped a bit with the government's order to get everyone in off the streets, but now numbers are creeping back up. Burnham argues it's due to reasons out of his control, the cost of living crisis, rough sleepers coming to Manchester from other cities. But places like Embassy are really helping. A few days after Andy Burnham becomes Prime Minister, I return to Embassy Village. Four months in, it is filling up fast. It's a nice sunny day and residents are milling about. One young lad is practicing capoeira moves underneath one of the arches. And there are a few men playing pool in the village hall. One young man, Albert, is having a careers advice session, talking to a financial advisor called Chris ahead of a job interview that afternoon.

[Resident Albert]

The roots into financial advice, we talk about while we're doing stuff and I

[Helen Peard]

can give you loads of stuff when he's done. He tells me how he ended up at embassy. He's 29 years old, originally from the south, he has a degree, he used to run his own clothing line and he was even a semi professional footballer for a bit. But he made what he says were some bad choices. He ended up with no money and nowhere to stay and found himself bedded down in a Manchester park. He tried to pretend it wasn't happening.

[Resident Albert]

I was watching Netflix in the rain, to be honest with you.

[Helen Peard]

For the previous two weeks, he'd spent all of his money on Airbnbs. As he tried to find work, things were looking up just as his money ran out.

[Resident Albert]

I was homeless for about two weeks while staying out of Airbnbs. But in that time I had acquired a job to become an accountant executive. So it's like the day I got the job, like the final past five interviews was the day I was sleeping in the park. So I was like, this is great. I've got the best Paid job I've ever had in my life and I'm homeless.

[Helen Peard]

He slept just one night rough in February before he was scooped up by the bed every night scheme.

[Resident Albert]

And yeah, in the morning my laptop died. So I was just sitting there and then two different people approached me. Two people were walking towards me with like badges on, so I knew that they were some kind of like government enforcement. I think they were council members. And then two other random people approached me with a big bag of shopping, like hot chocolates, clothes. So they both came to me at the same time. One was, ah, help this guy, he's been here all night. And the other was like, oh, yeah, we're from the council. We got a report that someone was sleeping rough and long story short, by the end of the day, the council able to get me in hostel.

[Helen Peard]

It was in the hostel that embassy staff came to see him and told him all about embassy. They met in a Costa Coffee and then he got a call back that very same day asking if he wanted to move in.

[Resident Albert]

I was a bit speechless. They didn't try to convince me to be here. I found that weird. I always appreciated the fact they never tried to convince me. And then when I got here, I thought, how are you not trying to convince people to come live here? But I understand why you wouldn't. Because it speaks for itself.

[Jessica Murray]

Yeah. And they wanted to feel like it's a positive choice for you.

[Resident Albert]

Yeah. Honestly. And like I said, you. You step into it yourself and once you understand why people are here and then the environment that they're being provided, you can't not be overwhelmed from the scenery. You get woken up by ducks. It's beautiful. The rooms, the bedrooms. I've paid for rooms smaller than that. 50, like 550 pound a month. Do you know what I mean?

[Jessica Murray]

And how long do you anticipate living

[Resident Albert]

here in the nicest way possible? Not that long.

[Helen Peard]

I catch up with Sid. We sit on a table by the canal as trams rumble overhead and geese potter about at our feet.

[Jessica Murray]

It's incredible to see it all in action. So of the 41 flats, how many guys have you got living here now?

[Sid Williams]

23 now. By the time you leave, it's 24. And we've got another two guys next week, so, yeah, we're nearly at. What does that take us? 26. Nearly at 26.

[Post University Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Sid Williams]

We're typically adding one person a week, but it's because the sad truth is we could fill this. We could have filled this place in a week, really. So what we've done is we've paced ourselves and then that helps keep the culture. People join a healthy culture. The culture becomes the lowest common denominator of behavior or self. Here we've worked really hard to set the culture and it's going really well. So we've never had a fight in the history of embassy either. And I think it's partly to do with the environment you give people and it's partly to do with people feeling valued. So when you move in here, we've had a lot of tears when men move in and we've had a lot of people saying, wow, I didn't think it'd be this good. And so now the guys really look after the space. Typically it's how many people are off the street is the sort of going measure. But we measure success differently to that. You know, a success for us is when someone leaves us to next accommodation. Ideally we want to see them in work no longer on benefits, and we manage that depending on the cohort, between 90 and 95% of the time.

[Helen Peard]

Albert has his job interview this afternoon and another man is out for an interview. When I arrive, some of the guys

[Sid Williams]

go find their own work, which is always like, that's the dream, because then there's ownership. Some of our guys don't quite have the confidence for that. And we have 26 companies partnered with us to employ our men and women. There's three guys now that have been given full time jobs with Cara Brickwork who helped build the village. And they're not unique.

[Helen Peard]

One resident has been given a job with the jet washing company that cleans the village.

[Sid Williams]

They come down pro bono and jet wash the site once again because of all these geese.

[Helen Peard]

Because the geese, the men had become very attached to the geese and particularly the small army of goslings that hatched in late spring.

[Sid Williams]

Yeah, we got a group of men who really are just a bunch of softies. So what's happened is at one point they fell in the canal and couldn't get up the lock. So the men all worked together to construct a floating ramp.

[Jessica Murray]

Stop it.

[Sid Williams]

Out of wood that they'd found to help the geese come up. It's just ridiculous. Anyway, it was quite nice sort of impromptu team building exercise. We've also got a mink.

[Helen Peard]

Coming up. How achievable is Andy Burnham's pledge to end rough sleeping nationwide,

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[Jessica Murray]

How many rough sleepers are they estimated to be in the uk?

So at the last rough sleeping count, which was in autumn 2025, there was 4,793 people on the streets. And that was a record high from 2017, was the last record high. And that is overall 160% increase since 2010. So the numbers have jumped up massively. And this is despite the fact we've had Boris Johnson's Conservative government pledged to end rough sleeping. Keir Starmer pledged to half rough sleeping. And now we're back to a pledge to end it. So I think while most people would really welcome Andy Burnham's promise is his bold ambition coming into office. I think there is a certain degree of skepticism about how easy it'll be to do. It's 3,000 people, I think what he described as kind of, you know, the most kind of entrenched rough sleepers. You know, the people who are often sort of in and out of hostels and emergency accommodation. It's those 3,000 that he's particularly focusing on. We have these kind of regular rough sleeping counts where essentially people kind of walk around the streets in a certain area and literally count how many people they can see.

They go to the same place and the same Night every year?

Yes. Yeah. Even as a method of counting, rough sleepers has its limitations. A lot of people are sleeping rough in very hidden places, whether that's kind of woodlands or abandoned car parks or abandoned buildings that get completely missed off. You know, women historically are massively missed on those counts because they're kind of more at risk of sexual abuse and harassment, so they tend to go in more hidden places.

And let's talk about what Andy Burnham's plan entails. Do we know?

[Podcast Announcer]

No.

[Jessica Murray]

So there's not a lot of detail so far. I mean, he has promised more detail, I think in autumn he said, we'll find out more. So we know he's pledged an extra £340 million towards this, which will take it to kind of record amount of funding to end rough sleeping in this country. Which, you know, the homelessness charities that I've spoken to in the past couple of days, you know, obviously really, really welcome this, feel really positive and optimistic about it. But how exactly he's going to spend that money is still not quite clear. As I said, he says he's going to target sort 3000 individuals particularly, and he's talked about acquiring housing stock. So he hasn't used the terms housing first, but it sounds like he's going to adopt some kind of housing first approach, which, again, people are really pleased to hear.

The charities, the experts in this sector, really welcomed this pledge, which was a surprise to many people that he was going to announce this on day one. Do they think privately he's lost his mind and that he's setting himself up for a fall?

No, I don't think so. I think a lot of, you know, homelessness charities do think this is a really achievable goal. I think they feel like they've been almost banging their heads against a wall for the past 10 years, because we know how to do this. Things like housing first have been piloted so many times. We get it, we know what we need to do. It's just actually getting the funding and the political commitment to actually get it done. But I think they think because Andy Burnham's sort of track record in Manchester with what he did there, that he has a real kind of personal drive and commitment. This isn't just another policy for. This is something that he genuinely feels really passionate about.

He was donating 15% of his salary towards ending homelessness every month. And he's doing the same, I think, as Prime Minister, with some make a field charities.

Yeah, exactly. So I think they feel very optimistic and I think they feel that maybe this is the time where it's actually going to be done. I mean, I literally interviewed someone this morning who said, you know, if this time next year I'm out of a job, that is ideal. That's what I want. I don't want to be working in this job this time next year. And I thought, yeah, well, let's see.

[Helen Peard]

I spot Chris, who's changed a bit since I first met him in March. His Mohawk is now red and he's limping around with a broken leg. The result, he says, of some mishap involving a grassy slope. I ask him what he thinks about Andy Burnham's pledge.

[Jessica Murray]

I'm sure you've seen that we've got a new Prime Minister. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester. Do you not want to talk about politics? He's basically.

[Resident Chris]

I've met him.

[Barclays Brief Advertiser]

Have you?

[Jessica Murray]

When did you meet Andy Burnham?

[Resident Chris]

It was when I was working at Harboury Neighbourhood Centre.

[Jessica Murray]

So you met him and what was he like?

[Resident Chris]

Do I have to say?

[Jessica Murray]

Did you not like him or what?

[Resident Chris]

No.

[Boost Mobile Advertiser]

Why?

[Resident Chris]

I don't like him. He's arrogant, cocky.

[Jessica Murray]

Oh, okay.

[Helen Peard]

But his.

[Jessica Murray]

So his. On his first day in Downing street on Monday, he pledged to end rough sleeping around the uk. Do you think that's achievable?

[Resident Chris]

I don't think people do that. Why? Cuz there's too many people out there, you know what I mean? So they prefer to be out on the street than actually be in accommodation. Cuz in accommodation you got to pay for your own bills, rent, things like that. When you're outside you don't pay for anything.

[Jessica Murray]

But then you don't have any security.

[Resident Chris]

Exactly. That's what it is. So most people like that, you know what I mean? But as I said, if you're under a roof, it's better. Yeah, but you feel safe as well. But when you're outside, if you're in trouble, you've got more ways to run. When you're under a roof, you only got one way out. One way out, one way in.

[Jessica Murray]

Yeah.

[Helen Peard]

I go and find Sid. He's in the half finished gym which is being constructed underneath one of the arches.

[Jessica Murray]

But I just wanted to ask you a bit about what you make of our new Prime Minister.

[Sid Williams]

Yes, sure.

[Jessica Murray]

He's been a supporter of embassy, hasn't he?

[Sid Williams]

Yes, he has, yeah. Yeah. We like Andy of Mary him like six times. I'm not going to do that thing ever in Darlings where they pretend they're best mates for the Prime Minister. But he's been to the village a couple of times. Really, really big fan of it.

[Jessica Murray]

So he's, you know, he stood on the steps at Downing street and made this pledge to end your sleeping in the whole of the uk.

[Sid Williams]

Yeah.

[Jessica Murray]

Do you think it's realistic?

[Sid Williams]

I personally think that if you shoot for the ceiling, you'll get two foot off the ground, but if you shoot for the stars, you might hit the ceiling. And if you look at Manchester, Andy pledged to try and end her off sleep in here. When we were doing our research stage before launching Embassy, I could only find

[Helen Peard]

54 beds, like emergency shelter beds.

[Jessica Murray]

If you find somebody on the street.

[Sid Williams]

Yeah, yeah, that's what I could find at the time. I might have missed something, but that's what I found. By the time Andy had finished with his a bed every night thing, there's over 2,000 places that people can be each night. So in that sense, yeah, we didn't end rough sleeping, but can you imagine if we hadn't done a bed every night or if we hadn't. If he hadn't pushed the councils in the area to work together, which some of them weren't. So, you know, I think if Andy achieves something similar to that, that on a bigger scale, I don't think we should shake a stick at that, you know, like, I think the intention is right. If you don't aim big, you know, you won't do anything big.

[Helen Peard]

That was Sid Williams from Embassy Village. If you want to support Embassy or find out more about them, go to embassyvillage.co.uk. my thanks to him and also to Jessica Murray, who's been writing a lot about homelessness since Andy Burnham made his pledge as Prime Minister. You find all of her [e-mail] and before we leave, I just wanted to tell you something. CHEERING which is that last Wednesday we put out, I think, a really special episode about a guy called Amjad Tantesh and his project to build swimming pools in Gaza for the children of Gaza. There was also an article about it by Emma Graham Harrison and a social video too. Anyway, Amjad has been in touch and has told us that the project has raised over £40,000 since last week and he wanted to pass on his thanks to all of the listeners who have donated. It means that thousands of children in Gaza can carry on their lessons on the beach. So thank you very much and that is all for today. This episode was produced by Guy zafman and Casey McGlaw and presented by me, Helen Pitt. Sound design was by Ross Burns and the executive producer was Sammy Kent. We'll be back in your feeds later today with the latest. This is the Guardian.

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