The Mayor of London has allocated an extra £7 million in his budget to tackle rough sleeping in the capital.

Sadiq Khan made the announcement as he visited a coffee shop near London Bridge run by Change Please, a social enterprise that offers rough sleepers a way off the streets by training them as baristas.

Change Please was awarded £60,000 through the Mayor’s Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund to assist with training, employment and housing and health support for rough sleepers, as well as going towards opening two new cafes.

Mr Khan said: “The increase in rough sleeping in recent years across the country is a national disgrace, and we are doing all we can to help people off the streets of London.

“Organisations like Change Please are doing a fantastic job helping homeless people to rebuild their lives, offering training, employment and support.

“It was great to meet the baristas today and hear how far they’ve come since sleeping on the streets, and the bright future they have now.”

The money will be spent on both short and long-term projects including a rapid response outreach team for rough sleepers over the coming months and expanding severe weather shelters next winter.

Cemal Ezel, the founder of Change Please, said: “It’s fantastic to have the support of the London Mayor – the Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund has been crucial in helping us grow our business so that we can employ more previously homeless baristas and change lives.”

At the start of the year severe weather shelters opened across the whole of London for people sleeping on the streets as temperatures fell below zero.

Mr Khan also announced earlier this month he would be using billboards and digital screens to raise awareness of rough sleeping in the capital.