Has it come to this? Yes, yes it has
By Thomas Ansell
A number of student groups came together last week to start Shelter Our Students (SOS), a couchsurfing website intended to link together people who may have a spare room or space for a homeless new student.
Despite this now being the fourth year in a row that large numbers of students have been left homeless, the burden has fallen to voluntary groups to help new Groningers; as evidently the Universities and local government have failed in their duties.
According to the RUG, (via ROOD), there are an extra 1,300 new students this year, and about 200 emergency beds have been reserved across the city by the University. Since up to 1,000 new students may find themselves homeless, SOS has been set up to link people to temporary accommodation.
Anyone with a spare room can sign up on the website, and anyone requiring a roof over their heads for the night can (hopefully) find somewhere to stay.
The website has been set up by the Groningse Studentenbond, International Socialisten Groningen, the Groningen Feminist Network; ROOD Groningen, Lijst Calimero, DAG; and the Jonge Socialisten Groningen.
