London City Mission (LCM) has highlighted the church’s role in providing community and support as it warns homelessness remains a huge issue despite decriminalisation.
Dan Burrows, Ministry Lead at the Webber Street Centre – an LCM day centre for people who are homeless – told en: “The local church is uniquely positioned to provide something many people experiencing homelessness desperately need: genuine community, lasting relationships and a place where they are known and welcomed.”
Dan Burrows
Burrows’ comments come after the UK Government repealed the 200-year-old Vagrancy Act, with the repeal coming into legal effect this June, meaning rough sleeping is no longer a criminal offence. “However, with nearly 13,000 people recorded sleeping rough last year, the need to help has by no means disappeared,” LCM said. “The challenge now is to ensure that they are no longer sleeping rough at all.”
Recent data from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) shows, compared to the previous year, a two per cent reduction in the number of people sleeping rough on London’s streets: a total of 12,938 for 2025/26. “While this represents a 2% fall on the previous year, it remains the second-highest figure on record,” LCM says. “The total number of people sleeping rough is still around 60% higher than it was a decade ago.”
Burrows said that despite these recent “encouraging signs in the data”, homelessness is “still a huge issue in London”. He added: “We have to remember that behind every statistic is a person made in the image of God, with their own story, their own struggles, and a need for hope.”
LCM’s Webber Street Centre, located near Waterloo station, represents the organisation’s largest ministry catering to people who are homeless. During 2025, the centre recorded 10,873 visits from guests experiencing homelessness. LCM said that alongside receiving breakfasts, showers, clothing, sleeping bags and healthcare support, 6,047 guests heard a gospel talk, staff and volunteers held 801 gospel conversations, and 212 guests accepted invitations to Bible study groups; the centre also connected many guests with specialist services and practical pathways out of homelessness.
LCM is encouraging London churches to see the need on their doorstep, “not only as a social issue, but as a mission field”. It emphasised that, through ministries like the Webber Street Centre, it is seeking to address “both immediate needs and the deeper questions of identity, belonging and purpose.” The charity believes that “as governments, local authorities and charities seek solutions to homelessness, churches have a vital role to play.” The organisation is inviting churches to partner with it; churches can find out more at lcm.org.uk/your-church.
