As part of a series of articles on homelessness in Glasgow, the Evening Times speaks to the people who run city charities supporting those in need.

Lorraine McGrath has been Chief Executive of the Simon Community since 2012 and oversees a range of services which includes a street team that goes out every night to help homeless people.

She estimates that her staff deal with around 800 rough sleepers in the city centre.

Ms McGrath warned that those who sleep rough in Glasgow face a bleak future.

She said: "The average age of death for someone who's homeless is 47 and only 41 if you're a rough sleeper. You're 16 times more likely to die. You're 35 times more likely to commit suicide. You're 13 times more likely to be a victim of violence.

"Among homeless people, 40% of those who formally ask for help have mental health issues, among them are people with major and complex trauma.

"Everybody is concerned about respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes - all of these things are vastly disproportionately higher in the homelessness population. And it's really, really difficult to for these homeless people to access and engage with health services.

"Somewhere in the region of six and half thousand people ask the council for help in Glasgow every year. There is at least another two thirds on top of that who engage with charitable services related to homelessness but don't formally ask for help with the council.

"Rough sleeping numbers have not improved. The numbers remain static. We're probably engaging with about 800 people in Glasgow every year."

The Simon Community provides beds for around 60 people at centres across Glasgow.

Ms McGrath said: "It would be wonderful to be able to accommodate more. The emergency places for people to go are only as good as how short that emergency placement can be.

"There has to be places for people to move on to that are more stable, more sustainable, more settled, very quickly. Life in emergency services is not an ideal scenario for anybody.

"There are enough houses within the system, it's access to those houses that is the issue. It's not as simple as putting people in houses. The vast majority of homeless people have other issues."

She added: "The people who end up rough sleeping are far more likely to have complex needs which require far more than accommodation."

Director of homelessness charity The Marie Trust, Sandy Farquharson, said his team of staff and more than 50 volunteers aim to empower service users.

He explained: "Our whole ethos is helping homeless people to help themselves. We give them a wide range of skills, including numeracy and literacy, because a lot of people don't have these skills. It gives people self esteem and makes them employable.

"For us it's about people, not process. It has got to be person centred. Previously they have fallen between two stools. That's what we're trying to address."

Mr Farquharson, who is originally from Dundee, also hopes to challenge the false perceptions some have of the homeless.

He said: "People think it's the homeless person's fault. It's not their fault. People come from terrible backgrounds. When they tell their stories it's very sad.

"They've come out of care or homes. They've maybe suffered abuse. They've never had a chance. They maybe have mental health problems or didn't do well at school.

"We're dealing with a group of people who have virtually no contact with family, they have no friends. The public don't realise they exist, or want to realise it.

"As for drugs and alcohol, people take it to escape a desperate situation. That's what happens."

The Marie Trust helps a growing number of homeless people in Glasgow, according to Mr Farquharson.

"Our numbers increased by about 50% from 2010 to 2013 as a result of the recession," he said. "We're at a stage when we have between 60 and 100 people coming in every day.

"It's levelled off, which is good because I don't think we could handle much more, but I'm not sure it's actually getting any better.

"Glasgow has a huge problem. It's a bigger problem in Glasgow because it's a huge population centre.

Glasgow City Council is very serious about working hard with the third sector to try and improve this. They're on our side and we're definitely on their side. But they have limited resources. It's down to resources and the most vulnerable are being hit now."

Chief Executive of Glasgow City Mission, Grant Campbell, oversees a project for homeless people, as well as a night shelter in the winter.

He said: "I'm not optimistic that the number of homeless people will be driven down. Glasgow is a big city and it has always been a big problem.

"It's fair to say the numbers have climbed, even after everything we're doing. Our numbers at the night shelter actually jumped by about 10% from last year. Five years ago we had around 250 people using the service, last year it was around 400.

Mr Campbell said many of the people who seek help from the City Mission have "complex needs" and the charity supports them as they rebuild their lives.

"We deal with vulnerable people, many who are homeless," he said. "Many of our service users will have had some form of experience with homelessness, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are today out on the street sleeping rough.

"Credit to the local authority, they have recognised that their own services weren't engaging with the people who have most complex needs. There are people who decide they will no longer engage with statutory authorities. We are still able to engage with them and hang on to these people.

"We are now working with the council to keep doing the tasks that we are currently doing, but they have devolved some authority to actually help it happen."

Mr Campbell fears charities like the City Mission are now forced to provide a safety net.

He said: "The UK has become like America. The third sector has become the new welfare state. I'm the reluctant runner of a food bank and a night shelter. I wish we didn't have to do it. I don't want to have to do it because trying to get rid of it is difficult. But we see people trapped in poverty and we have an ability to help, so we will."

Chairman of the Wayside Club, Brian Bonnyman, 77, has been volunteering at the charity for twenty years.

The former chartered accountant, who got involved in helping homeless people after he retired, says it is a growing problem in Glasgow.

Established in 1932 by Catholic lay organisation The Legion of Mary, the Wayside provides food and clothing to more than 100 people every night of the year.

Brian said: "It is still run by the Legion of Mary but the people that volunteer here come from all different backgrounds.

"We've been in this building for 32 years and we're all volunteers, more than 100 of us.

"We tend to get homeless people coming although some are housed but find it difficult to make their way in life.

"In the early days, in the 1930s, it was mainly older Irish men who had drink problems that the Legion of Mary tried to help.

"The people that come here now are all ages and there's a real mix of nationalities. We get a lot of asylum seekers from all over the world.

"The number of homeless people is increasing. We can seat 70 people but quite a lot of them also take away food and clothes because we don't have the space.

"There is a growing number and it's not just people from Glasgow and the rest of the UK."

For more than two decades Denis Curran, 71, has run a soup kitchen for homeless people in Glasgow.

Loaves and Fishes is based at Renfield St Stephen's Church in Bath Street and Mr Curran proudly boats that the food served up two nights a week is "restaurant quality".

"We get about 40 or 50 people each night," he said. "We feed them but we also try to get them on to the next rung, to get them away from here. We want to encourage them.

"Sometimes I think about the number of people we feed every year and it really shouldn't be happening.

"The only thing that changes is the date. The problem isn't getting solved.

"I was born in 1943 when you had ration books. You had ration books right up until 1953.

"Everybody was the same. You went in and got your groceries with a token.

"That was at the time of war and there was a food shortage after the war - but people were fed.

"And here we are in 2015, we're not at war with anyone, and there are people homeless and using soup kitchens. It's a disgrace.

"We're doing the government's job."