Introduction to St. Mungo’s and its aims

St. Mungo’s is a charity foundation that operates in England and they mainly helps the homeless people, people who have problems in sleeping in the streets of London. This organization is providing home to a huge number of homeless people in England and they are also responsible for providing support and bed for sleeping in the south and south west of England. The outreach team of St. Mungo’s meet the people who are sleeping rough at night and they provide support to that people in moving away from the street. The team work along the west and south west part of the country with the help of local councils and other local agencies who are engaged in same type of work as well. They have their center in various part of the country (St Mungo’s 2018). However, they are aiming to open a new center in the London borough. In England there are various organization who are contributing to the wellness of the homeless people and rough sleeps. As each of the homeless people have different needs, so each of the charity foundation is responsible for different type of needs. Those charities are responsible giving access to temporary or emergency accommodation, training or employment, giving legal and housing advice. In addition to this, some organization also help in avoiding alcohol and drug dependency. St.Mungo’s is planning to open a new center in London borough so that they can expand their service and can help more homeless people in the London borough In this report, the PEST analysis of opening a new center of St. Mungo’s in London Borough is discussed. In addition to this a few possible recommendation for opening St. Mungo’s new center is also highlighted in the later part of this assignment.

 PEST analysis is a measurement tool that is utilized to examine the market for a particular product or a particular business at a very specific time period as well.  The term pest implies the four factors and that are P stands for the Political factors, E stands for the economic factors, S stands for the social factors and T stands for the technological factors. Under the political environment, government rule, tax policies, environment laws are included. In case of economic factors, the interest rates, economic growth is included. The social factors include the consumer of that particular services, demographic studies, population growth. In case of technological factors, the factors like advancement of technology, intervention of new technology are included under the technological factors (The Economic Times  2018).

St. Mungo’s is a charitable organization which is engaged in providing support to the homeless people of England. In 1969, a few volunteers started a campaign to help the people of London who are sleeping roughly in the street. The name St. Mungo’s was given to that group of volunteers by Harry Stone as he thought this name of a Christian saint would prevent the harassment of that group.  St. Mungo’s now have a large hostel that have the accommodation capacity of 650 beds and along with this almost 24 staffs are working in that large hostel. St. Mungo’s also provides hostels and to the semi-independent people. The charity foundation has its own properties and they also give rent their buildings to other providers as well.  In addition to this, the employee of that organization  also provide various services like employment and skill training to the homeless people or to the people who are vulnerable to become homeless, provide service to enhance the health condition of people (St Mungo’s 2018).

Political Factors · Increase in numbers of applications from homeless people. Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper · The local authority only provide a temporary accommodation to the applicant people. · Several political boundaries in providing temporary accommodation. · The city councils also supports the people who are rough sleepers. · Development of new model for the rough sleepers (Hackney.gov.uk, 2014).

Economic factors · The city is providing funds to provide outreach of various organization for arranging accommodation for the rough sleepers. · Government has introduced personalized budget for various homelessness project implementation. · Various new project for giving shelter to the homeless people. · Hackney CCG can use their aligned fund for various projects. · Allowing more funds for providing support to the homeless people.

Social Factors · Poor housing standards of the residents. · Over-crowding condition of the city · More number of homeless people · Several types of population such as residents, workers, homeless people, rough sleepers. · Increasing number of homeless people in the city (GOV.UK, 2018).

Technological Factors · Using of various new technologies by the St.Mungo · Hackney has invented an app that can collect information related to homelessness. · Trends in increasing use of internet. · In London almost 88% people had used internet (GOV.UK, 2018). · Less percentage of internet use among the people who are economically deprived.

PEST analysis overview

In England almost 320,000 people are homeless and along with this, a huge number of people are sleeping in the street. There are various laws related to the homelessness of England. In 2017, the parliament has introduced Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and that helps to get help to reduce the number of homeless people (Crisis 2018). This act will help St. Mungo’s to open there new center in the London borough as both the government and the organization have the same goal of reducing the homelessness in London. However, there may be negative impact as government has planned to implement their plan through the help of local council. This may act as a hindrance in setting new center of St. Mungo’s.In accordance to a report published by the London Assembly, it has been estimated that the number of people who are homeless in London, amounts to a total of 12, 500 people. Such individuals are compelled to reside in unsafe environments such as sitting areas in public transports, or sofa’s in unknown homes or merely engage in squatting in the streets. (Mulrenan, Atkins and Cox 2018). Considering this situation of alarming seriousness, the city council of London, has undertaken effective steps to mitigate the issue. City council undertakes active evaluation and commissioned searches to uncover citizens who are homeless for the purpose of provision of emergency housing and accommodation. Hence, these active efforts from the city council concerning the management of homeless residents, will prove to be beneficial political advantage for the establishment of St. Mungo’s due to its aim to avoid accommodation for homeless individuals (Thomspon et al. 2017).

Considering the acknowledgment of the alarming issue of homelessness by the city council of London, the council also undertakes the arrangement of various funding procedures and projects as a part of the major steps to eradicate this alarming social issue. The council has undertaken a number of funding policies and strategies in the form of ‘Homelessness Strategy’, ‘Temporary Accommodation Policy’ and ‘No First Night Out’, as attempts to aid people who lack adequate residential facilities along with provision of funding for organizations or community service groups possessing the organizational objective of eradication of homelessness. The city of London also funds organizations and community development projects in the form of funding schemes such as ‘Crowdfund London’ and ‘Good Growth Fund’. Hence, the ready availability of economic resources from the city council of London in the form of funding policies will serve as a major economic factor which may support the development of St. Mungo’s (Watt 2018).

In addition to the above, the National Health Service (NHS) and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCH), also undertakes in the provision of commission to services pertaining to healthcare, emergency and medical urgency services along with services pertaining to mental health. Hence, for the development of a new St. Mungo’s with the aim to eradicate homelessness and arrange residential services for the underprivileged citizens of London, the availability of such legally approved commissioning services by NHS England, from the Hackney CCG, will serve to be a major economic advantage (Hassanally and Asaria 2018).

Political factors and their impact on St. Mungo’s

Social Factor

One of the key social factors which further necessitates the need for the creation of charitable services aiming to eradicate homelessness, like St. Mungo’s, is the alarming emergence of London’s population of individuals who are devoid of any form of home or residence in London. The report, ‘Hidden Homelessness in London’, was established by the London Assembly, and presented an alarming estimate that the total number of people who are homeless in London amounts to a shocking total of 12, 500. Of these, the major population groups with the highest susceptibility of homelessness, include adolescents and queer groups such as those belonging to the LGBTQ Community. The report further estimated that among 10 Londoners, at least one individual is lacking the privileges and basic rights of living in a safe resident. Hence, considering such socially detrimental figures highlighting homelessness, the development of St. Mungo’s will not only prove to be advantageous but also necessary (Elwell-Sutton et al. 2016).

The London Assembly has also noted the growing concern of overcrowding in the city of London, which has been reported to be excessively high as compared to the additional cities in the country of England. Further, the organization, ‘Trust of London’, in its statistical reports for the year 2014 and 2015, observed that a large number of households, amounting to a number of 250, 000 were found to be overcrowded. The emerging rate of overcrowding not only leads to detrimental impacts on the standards of living, sanitation ad hygiene, but also increases the susceptibility of residential deprivations further increasing the chances for citizens to be subject to homelessness. Hence, the rising state of overcrowding and the possibility of homeless, will act as a major social factor, proving to be advantageous and necessary the creation of St. Mungo’s (Johnston et al. 2016).

With the onset of advantages in science and technology, the usage of technological features such as applications and software by an organization, proves to be a major advantage in the fulfillment of its activities and objectives. St. Mungo is not new in this field and hence, also undertakes active usage of technology for the purpose of eradication of homelessness. ‘StreetLink’ is an application software as well as website managed by St. Mungo, in collaboration with ‘Homeless Link’. This website provides a platform for citizens of the public to provide information based on the location in which homeless citizens have been found. Upon reception of this information allows St. Mungo to relay the same to community service groups and governmental authorities in Wales and England, so as to garner support for such individuals who are living in homelessness. Hence, the increased efficiency of managing support for homeless individuals through the usage of such technological advances, is a major technological advantage which St. Mungo’s can provide upon its creation (Forward et al. 2015). As an additional advantage, Hackney CCG also uses similar technological application to detect homeless citizens, which can further supplement the working of St. Mungo’s (Petty 2016).

Further acting as an advantageous technological factor is the increasing engagement of the citizens of London with the usage of technology. Along with the provision of affordable housing facilities and accommodation to such underprivileged citizens, St. Mungo’s also engages in the usage of applications like StreetLink, which not only aids in obtaining necessary information and support for existing homeless people, but also provide a platform of technology friendliness and advantage to today’s tech-savvy population of London. Hence, the usage of such simple yet effective technologies acts as a major technological factor as its advantage which will help in the management of homelessness in a customer friendly manner (Lamb and Joels 2014). However, it is worthwhile to mention that a majority of the citizens subjected to homelessness in London, belong to a social group of socioeconomic disadvantage. Hence, amongst such people, the usage of such technology is near about negligible considering the difficulty in affordability. Hence, while usage of technology like ‘StreetLink’ may prove to be beneficial, St. Mungo’s must avoid heavy dependence on the same, considering the lack of financial feasibility prevalent in such homeless individuals (Fuller 2016).

Economic factors and their impact on St. Mungo’s

The charity work of St. Mungo is very much important for the London borough as a huge number of people in London is homeless and they also have not proper place to sleep at night. As a result they are engaged in the practice of rough sleeping at night. The initiative of St. Mungo to open a new center in the London borough will be very much effective as the people really need the support to have their permanent or temporary accommodation (Tobin 2018). From the Hackney JSNA report data it was seen that, the London borough holds the sixth position in terms of having the rough sleepers in the city. So following recommendation can be done regarding the opening of the new center in the London borough. The recommendations are as follows-

• Mungo should open the new center in the London borough as there are a huge number of people in London who are rough sleepers and homeless. In order to provide them support, St. Mungo should build a big hostel so that they can give support to more number of people. In addition to this, government is also aiming to give more support to the homeless people of London and also of England.  The support from the government will encourage St. Mungo to open their new center in London.
• In addition to this, government has also introduced a new act named Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, in order to reduce the number of homeless people in the country (Crisis 2018). This Act will help St. Mungo to set up their new center in the London borough.
• Although a huge number of people are engaged in providing service to the homeless people, more number of people shall be recruited by the St. Mungo authority in order to provide their service more people in London borough.
• Government is concentrating on the reduction of homeless people and rough sleepers in London. St. Mungo can work in collaboration with the local council and government and as a result they will able to help more number of homeless people and rough sleepers.
• Mungo can start awareness program among the people so that a huge number of people can have access of their charity service. In addition to that, they can arrange workshops to educate the people who are technologically challenged about various new technologies. This would help St. Mungo to give better service by using new technologies by using new technologies.

Conclusion

 Lastly it can be recommended that plan of St. Mungo to open a new center in London is very much effective as the number of homeless people are gradually increasing day by day. In addition to this, there are various political, social, economic and technological factor that can be helpful for St. Mungo to open the new center. However, there are several drawbacks in opening the center, but they can be overcome by using proper planning. So, St. Mungo’s plan to open a new center in the London will be very much fruitful for the homeless of London.

References

Crisis. 2018. Homelessness legislation | Crisis | Together we will end homelessness. Available at: https://www.crisis.org.uk/ending-homelessness/law-and-rights/homelessness-legislation/ [Accessed 14 Dec. 2018].

Elwell-Sutton, T., Fok, J., Albanese, F., Mathie, H. and Holland, R., 2016. Factors associated with access to care and healthcare utilization in the homeless population of England. Journal of Public Health, 39(1), pp.26-33.

Forward, C., 2015. Supporting the needs of people who are homeless. British Journal of School Nursing, 10(1), pp.41-42.

Fuller, J.S., 2016. The impact of the Health and Social Care Act, 2012 on the health and wellbeing of rough sleepers. Journal of Integrated Care, 24(5/6), pp.249-259.

GOV.UK. 2018. Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and joint health and wellbeing strategies explained. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/joint-strategic-needs-assessment-and-joint-health-and-wellbeing-strategies-explained [Accessed 14 Dec. 2018].

Hackney.gov.uk. 2014. Hackney health and wellbeing board | Hackney Council. Available at: https://www.hackney.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing-board [Accessed 14 Dec. 2018].

Hassanally, K. and Asaria, M., 2018. Homeless mortality data from East London. London Journal of Primary Care, pp.1-4.

Johnston, R., Owen, D., Manley, D. and Harris, R., 2016. House price increases and higher density housing occupation: the response of non-white households in London, 2001–2011. International Journal of Housing Policy, 16(3), pp.357-375.

Lamb, V. and Joels, C., 2014. Improving access to health care for homeless people. Nursing Standard (2014+), 29(6), p.45.

Mulrenan, P., Atkins, J. and Cox, S., 2018. ‘I get up in the night to cry’: The impact of homelessness on higher education students in London, UK. Critical Social Policy, 38(1), pp.143-154.

Petty, J., 2016. The London spikes controversy: Homelessness, urban securitisation and the question of ‘hostile architecture’. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 5(1), pp.67-81.

St Mungo’s. 2018. About us – St Mungo’s.  Available at: https://www.mungos.org/about-us/ [Accessed 14 Dec. 2018].

The Economic Times. 2018. Pest Analysis – What is Pest Analysis ? Pest Analysis meaning, Pest Analysis definition – The Economic Times.  Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/pest-analysis [Accessed 14 Dec. 2018].

Thompson, C., Lewis, D.J., Greenhalgh, T., Smith, N.R., Fahy, A.E. and Cummins, S., 2017. “I don’t know how I’m still standing” a Bakhtinian analysis of social housing and health narratives in East London. Social Science & Medicine, 177, pp.27-34.

Tobin, O. 2018. Revealed: London boroughs with England’s highest rates of homelessness. Evening Standard. Available at: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/revealed-the-london-boroughs-with-the-highest-rates-of-homelessness-in-england-a3997391.html [Accessed 14 Dec. 2018].

Watt, P., 2018. Gendering the right to housing in the city: homeless female lone parents in post-Olympics, austerity East London. Cities, 76, pp.43-51.