Here's an update about that petition that we started to try and put the wheels in motion and get vacant Southend Town Centre retail units somehow opened up for the use of the homeless overnight during the winter. It has had more than 31,000 signatures now which is an amazing outpouring of support about a very emotive issue! We made it clear from the outset that it wouldn't be an easy task, but nonetheless our overall objective was to get the idea 'considered' at the very least and perhaps show that there is support for something inbetween the situation that currently exists (the amazing work carried out by HARP, local church and night shelters, organisations such as One Love Soup Kitchen and so on) and the 'ambitious' subject of the petition. Once it hit around 15,000 signatures, we printed it out and handed it over to Cllr Mark Flewitt (Con) at Southend Borough Council who is the Executive Councillor for Housing, Planning & Sustainability - we were also accompanied by representatives of One Love Soup Kitchen in Southend. As it stands at the moment, the latest council budget has been announced, and this includes '£75,000 to explore and research options to help combat and support the prevention of homelessness' - whether or not this has come as a result of tens of thousands of people signing this petition remains to be seen. It also remains to be seen whether or not the petition itself will be put forward to 'cabinet' or whatever, but it has to be said that to simply send the views of 31,000+ people to Civic Centre's industrial shredder would be 'worrying' to say the least. Make of this update what you will. Although it would be heartening to see something tangible eventually come from this £75,000 investment, everyone behind the petition cannot shake off the feeling that the mass gathering of support has been an 'inconvenience' for the borough's powers that be. We would still encourage you to sign the petition that can be found at https://www.change.org/p/southend-borough-council-open-up-v…, and the more that it gets shared and signed, the more that those in charge will realise that those who support it will not simply 'go away and find something else to campaign about.' NOTE: We MUST point out that there was nothing about this petition that attacked the organisations that already work towards helping the homeless in Southend - we are aware that some individuals believed this to be the case.