One drunk or drug-addicted homeless person is admitted to hospital every three hours, putting a severe strain on the National Health Service, new figures show. The rate of drug and drink-related admissions of homeless people has risen by 117 per cent since 2004. Many had overdosed or suffered infections from using dirty needles. to inject drugs such as heroin, while others needed their stomachs pumped after drinking too much.

Dick and Dom are backing Shelter's call on schools across the country to take part in HomeTime!, a new exciting fundraising initiative, encouraging children to raise money and help change the lives of thousands of homeless children. Currently there are 1.6 million children that are homeless, or living in bad housing. Hundreds more children are trapped in homes that are over crowded, squalid or unsafe.

There has been a dramatic increase in services for the homeless, according to a report from Homeless Link. Its Survey of Needs and Provision indicates that 98% of homeless services now support people to access education, skills development and employment, compared to 66% in 2008; 94% provide leisure activities, compared to 61%, and health services are up to 97% from 71%.

The Salvation Army has rebranded its hostels as LifeHouses, a name chosen by its clients and staff. In its 83 centres across the UK, which provide home to 3,500 each night, the organisation will focus not just on providing housing and accommodation, but also on helping residents to have purpose and build relationships.

In his wildest dreams during years of homelessness, Paul Kelly would never have envisaged that photographs taken by him would one day hang alongside rarely seen works by such giants of the art world as Helmut Newton, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Three of his photographs have been selected for a major exhibition that includes more than 100 rare and signed works in central London. The most collectable photos will be auctioned next month in aid of homelessness charity Crisis – among them a royal diptych comprising a portrait of Prince William, the charity's patron.

Official Government statistics, released by Ian Austin, a minister in the Department for Communities and Local Government, suggest that just 464 people are sleeping rough in England. However, charities and opposition politicians have attacked the figures as misleading and being "massaged" so that the Government can hit its ambitious target of eliminating all rough sleepers by 2012.

Homeless Link has launched its manifesto to end homelessness in this country in the next decade.  It is calling on the next government to take 10 practical steps to achieve this, including: preventing  homelessness during life transitions e.g. leaving care or discharge from hospital, prison and the armed forces; delivering top class access for homeless people to the right mental health, drug and alcohol support, and ensuring that no one is left destitute and excluded from basic support in 21st century Britain.

Homeless people and hospitals are often blighted by inappropriate admission and discharge practice, which creates a “revolving door” situation, where homeless people’s multiple health and other needs are never fully addressed. This can lead to regular readmissions, lengthy hospital stays, and loss of housing or failure to find appropriate accommodation.

National statistics recently released show that the number of households being accepted as being owed a main homelessness duty is down 32 per cent from the same time last year. The figures show that 10,650 households were accepted as homeless by local authorities between April to June 2009 - a 32 per cent reduction compared to the same quarter last year.