10/10/25 – Glasgow Rough Sleeping Count

Rough Sleeping Count Glasgow

Friday 10th October 2025 – 1am to 4am

On the morning of World Homeless Day and World Mental Health Day, Friday 10th October, we conducted one of our regular rough sleeping counts. Our Street Team are out 7-days a week from 8am – 11pm, and have a good understanding of who is on the streets. The report below corresponds with the daily information we keep a record of.

If you see anyone on the streets of Glasgow who you would like us to check on, please call our helpline on 0800 027 7466. We will get our Street Team out to speak with them as quickly as possible.

Organising the Count

7 staff from SCS and 12 volunteers from a variety of partnerships across the city took part in this year’s count. Volunteers were made up of support from 7 partner agencies including: HSPC – Homeless Casework, NHS – Outreach, Glasgow City Mission, Police Scotland, Help the Homeless, The Invisibles and Shelter Scotland.

Thank you so much to everyone for their time, energy, experience and care.

Weather

The weather was dry with a temperature of 13 degrees.

 

All staff and volunteers received a health & safety briefing and were provided with emergency contact numbers and split into groups.  2 staff members stayed in the office with the teams calling in every 30 minutes to provide updates on their whereabouts, what streets/areas had been covered and recording any findings. All teams had one staff member trained in Naloxone and as such, every team had a kit with them, they were also provided with a torch and map of areas to cover.

Parks and Gardens

Recent intelligence about rough sleeping/activity in Kelvingrove Park, 1 team were tasked to enter. Knowledge of one rough sleeper within Glasgow Green, which was logged.

Number of rough sleepers identified

During the course of the count we identified 26 people rough sleeping in the city. 

As in previous counts, there was evidence of some begging activity where sleeping bags and mats were stored for the following day. Some injecting sites were also identified for teams to follow up. 

Areas covered and findings:

Our team covered the city centre and surrounding areas, including the Trongate, West End, Finnieston, Govan, Tradeston and Broomielaw. We engage regularly with local police and HSCP Neighbourhoods and Sustainability and local housing associations to discuss rough sleeping in their areas. This is mainly focussed on closes and bin sheds. No recent intelligence about specific bin sheds etc to target on the night.

Accuracy of Count

There is always the likelihood that we would not find everyone as some people make great efforts to be undetected. Similarly, there is a possibility that people might be in more remote locations outside the city centre, some of which may be in parks and cemeteries, although we have had no reported sightings.  

To help us provide safe places, support and hope please visit our HOPE appeal page.