Cambridge has a significant rough sleeping problem despite the city’s wealth (Image: Reach plc/Getty)

Jimmy’s has supported homeless people in Cambridge for decades (Image: Paul Marriott)

Yet the 40 rough sleepers Jimmy’s counts at night, on top of the 81 in its accommodation, are likely just the tip of the iceberg, with many more thought to be sofa-surfing or sheltering on night buses and in hospital A&Es.

It is by no means the only place in Britain with a homelessness dilemma, even if it is one of the most striking. Yet there is hope that a former Cambridge student might have the answer to a “national shame” that many feel has wrecked lives for far too long.

Natasha Davies, chief executive of Jimmy’s, says: “It’s an incredibly wealthy city, but homelessness and street rough sleeping are everywhere.

“There is a lot of poverty in this city. I think maybe it’s that wealth disparity. There is a real town and gown. It’s talked about a lot in this city. There is a lot of inequality, just as much as there is incredible wealth.”

While the Centre for Cities Outlook 2026 report ranks Cambridge second in the country for workplace earnings and seventh nationally for living standards, it is frequently labelled as the most unequal place in the UK.

Cameron Holloway, leader of Cambridge City Council, said in an article last year that the city’s inequality has become a “depressing truism”.

“Its rapid economic growth and the amazingly productive business environment have created huge wealth for some, while others have stayed poor, struggling with soaring house prices and a feeling that the so-called ‘Cambridge Phenomenon’ could not be further from their day-to-day experience,” he wrote.

Natasha Davies says homelessness and rough sleeping are everywhere in Cambridge (Image: Paul Marriott)

The high cost of living – the average rent in Cambridge is £1,806, according to the Office for National Statistics – is thought by many to be a key factor in its homelessness crisis.

But Davies says those falling into homelessness have increasingly more complex problems too, making the problem horrendously more difficult to solve.

“Gone are the days of the wanderer type of individual who just simply hasn’t got anywhere to live,” she says. “What we’re seeing is individuals with really complex needs arriving in our services.”

As well as its round-the-clock emergency centre in East Road, Jimmy’s has a complex needs hostel in nearby Newmarket Road to treat those with addiction and mental health problems. Shockingly, there is a two-year waiting list.

Among those using Jimmy’s services is Tyrone Scott, who came to the East Road centre in November after losing his home when his mother died.

He moved to a modular home provided by Jimmy’s in April and gives back by volunteering at the charity.

“In the beginning, it was quite difficult because obviously I’ve always lived in private accommodation, paid for myself, looked after myself, had family around, friends,” he says.

“I was totally different to what most people came here for. A lot of people here had drug issues and everything, and that’s what I didn’t have. I just had a broken family.

“But I did get a lot of support here, but I found it very hard to open up because I find it really hard to trust people.”

Tyrone Scott says he got a lot of support at Jimmy’s (Image: Paul Marriott)

Davies says mental health problems are often the root cause of people’s homelessness.

“Generally, the addiction issues we see are a mechanism of coping with mental health issues,” she explains.

“There’s a lot of self-medication. Even for things like really bad dental hygiene – they’re in pain with their teeth, so therefore they’ll go and have a drink, and then it becomes this perpetual cycle.”

She says many homeless people are in “crisis response the whole time”, but that its support workers are highly skilled at working out how best to help those in their hour of need.

Jimmy’s range of services means it can “take people from literally being on the streets all the way through to getting treatment, support, help, living more independently, and moving on to hopefully a social tenancy or a private tenancy”, she adds.

Yet given the number of those destitute, it is not enough.

Jimmy’s, which has been at its iconic East Road base for decades, says it has outgrown the ageing premises and is trying to raise millions of pounds for a new purpose-built centre.

That would give residents full-size studio apartments where they can live comfortably during their recovery journey, rather than sharing kitchen and living facilities with others.

But Davies also wants to co-locate Jimmy’s with NHS and treatment services, as well as a café and some social enterprises, to provide a “genuine community infrastructure that provides employment and volunteering opportunities for our residents”.

“It’s providing stability, and that’s the most important thing,” says Davies.

“It’s also about saying to people ‘you are worth a really nice space. You are worth people investing in you. You’re worth having something beautiful’.”

An artist’s impression of how the new Jimmy’s will look (Image: Jimmy’s)

In many ways, the plans for Jimmy’s, which require its new premises to be ready when the lease on its current building expires in 2032, are perfectly timed.

Since his Downing Street speech, Burnham has gone further and says he wants to ensure all rough sleepers are off the street at Christmas.

“I think the whole sector took a sharp intake of breath when that was the first thing that was announced,” Davies recalls.

“It was almost like the shoulders then went down, like somebody finally gets this and is listening.”

“We haven’t seen any of the funding come through yet,” says Davies.

“We’d like to see some action now. We want to see some cash trickling down and some different initiatives coming.”

Burnham’s critics have pointed out that the Labour leader also promised to end rough sleeping while mayor of Manchester. Despite initially falling in the Northern city, it has risen again.

Natasha Davies and Hetty Mentzel enjoy a game of pool with Kevin Hodges and dog Ruby (Image: Paul Marriott)

Davies believes ending rough sleeping is “absolutely achievable” and cites Finland’s incredible success with its “housing first” policy, where street dwellers are given a roof over their heads immediately.

“The moment it falls down is when you take your foot off the gas, and you stop funding it,” she explains.

“I could immediately take 81 people out of Jimmy’s and put them in houses. Without support, I guarantee 80 of those people would be back within services within six months.

“It’s about marrying up not only housing provision, but also robust professional support – really understanding that it’s those two things working in synergy together.

“It can’t just be that we’re going to announce it today, throw some money at it, but in a year’s time, we’ll say we fixed it, and therefore we take our foot off the gas. We need to keep going.”

Sarah Hall, a Jimmy’s volunteer for 13 years, believes Burnham’s bold pledge won’t be achieved, even though she desperately wants it to be.

“You can’t just put vulnerable people anywhere,” says the 71-year-old. “That takes money and effort.

Volunteer Sarah Hall believes ‘the whole system needs a boot’ (Image: Paul Marriott)

It is worth ending on two comments from Davies – one a tough message to political leaders like Burnham, but the other one of unfaded hope.

“If one person has nowhere to go but sleep in a shop doorway, it is a comment on our society.”

But of the destitute who do come through Jimmy’s doors, she says: “They are joyful. They are hilarious. They are funny. They are wily individuals. They have so much potential and so much ambition and so much hope for their futures.”

Whatever the reasons a rough sleeper has ended up on Cambridge’s streets, we can all agree that it is tragic. Rebuilding their lives so they can fulfil their potential is surely an opportunity we can’t afford to miss.