A group of former homeless people are preparing to go back to the streets to help rough sleepers.

Street Buddies is an outreach programme run by Riverside Housing Association, led by volunteers and trainees who have their own history of rough sleeping.

It is marking World Homeless Day on Saturday (October 10) by helping homeless people find a roof over their heads.

The volunteers use their own experience of turning their lives around to engage with entrenched rough sleepers and support them away from the streets of Westminster.

Riverside area manager Steve Davies explained: “Street Buddies is a peer support initiative involving former homeless volunteers and trainees to make contact with rough sleepers. They are ‘experts by experience’ who have been trained in tackling the issues of substance use and mental health, working with entrenched rough sleepers, some of whom been living on the streets for decades.

“Our Street Buddies’ background gives them an empathetic advantage and the success of the model has been overwhelming. The Street Buddies team has built up trusting relationships with rough sleepers, showing that they have made a dramatic change to their lives and moved away from the streets.

“Street Buddies’ volunteers are seen as peers not professionals and are often more successful in engaging with rough sleepers who might otherwise be reluctant to engage with professionals.”

The approach is one of many aimed at helping homeless people in the area. Neighbouring Kensington & Chelsea has appealed to kind-hearted people to stop giving money to beggars on the borough’s streets, in a move council leader Nick Paget-Brown admitted was controversial.

Among those who will be helping Street Buddies is Jeff, a former rough sleeper who began volunteering for the programme last year. He said: “My motivation to get into this line of work was to help people that had similar experiences of homelessness and addiction as me.

“I started volunteering with Street Buddies because I wanted to help but I also knew that by immersing myself in challenging situations and social interactions, it was very good way of helping my own anxieties.

“My self-confidence has benefited tremendously through working with Street Buddies.”

During a two-week period in August, K&C put up large bus shelter and telephone box posters for two weeks urging people not to give money to beggars. Smaller leaflets were also distributed to council venues such as libraries.

Instead, Cllr Paget-Brown asked people to give to organisations and charities. He said: “It may come as a bit of a shock to some when we embark on a campaign that seems to say don’t be a Good Samaritan. But our anti-begging campaign is really asking people to help in a different way, and with good reason.

“Specialist help can be given to work to overcome alcohol and drug addictions, find accommodation and access employment-based training. It’s these organisations that really need your support.”

World Homeless Day draws attention to homeless people’s needs locally and provide opportunities for the community to get involved in responding to homelessness. For more information visit www.worldhomelessday.org.