Giving Compass' Take:

• Global Citizen discusses the increasing amount of struggles the homeless face in England during the hot summer and provides a few ways everyone can help.

• What are some longer-term actions donors can do to help people sleeping on the streets? What opportunities are available for the homeless and how can donors connect the two?

• Learn more about how you can help the homeless.

We recently saw the 16th consecutive day of temperatures exceeding 26 degrees Celsius in the UK, and odds have been slashed on this summer becoming the hottest since Britain’s infamous drought in 1976.

But while the rest of us can politely complain as air conditioning breezes through our locks like Beyoncé’s wind machine, a heatwave can make life far harder for people without a home — and unbearable for those sleeping rough.

More than 300,000 people in Britain are homeless or living in inadequate housing — and 4,751 slept rough in England last year, the highest number since records began. Since 2010, there has been a 169% increase in the number of people sleeping rough in England, and in big cities like London, a rough sleeper dies every two weeks.

The heatwave brings with it dehydration, sunstroke, and sunburn — and experts have called on the public to help. Here’s a few ways you can get involved right away:

  1. Buy them suncream
  2. Donate your old umbrellas
  3. Make sure they have enough water
  4. Connect them to a charity
  5. Help them find shelter

Don’t forget that you’re more likely to have internet access — and even the use of your phone to see what’s available in the area could be the difference between accommodation or nothing.

Read the full article about helping the homeless by James Hitchings-Hales at Global Citizen.