Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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Support and guidance for new night shelters

September 16 2011
 Housing Justice develops its winter programme

 

Christian homelessness charity Housing Justice has appointed a new shelter liaison co-ordinator to assist with its winter programme development.

The organisation launched a resource called Shelter in a Pack last year, to give practical advice to anyone setting up a night shelter for homeless people. “Our job is to support existing shelters, help develop new shelters and develop the community of night shelters,” new liaison co-ordinator Paul Reily told The Pavement. “We don’t know yet how many shelters will be opening this winter, but we do know that an increasing number of churches are keen to help.”

In terms of launching a successful night shelter, Reily states that the main issue is confidence. “People wonder whether they can do this and it puts doubts in their minds. The fact is they can, with a bit of help and advice.” So far, Shelter in a Pack has received positive feedback, with many users claiming it had been a very valuable and informative tool.

New to the role of shelter liaison co-ordinator, Reily anticipates that the position, and his responsibilities, will grow and develop over time. “When you take on a new role you need to listen to everything that needs doing and that’s what I’m doing now,” he said, adding that he was also keen to help on the ground. “I believe in both social action and social justice. Social action is about pulling someone out of the river; social justice is about asking how they fell in. We need both to successfully address the problem of homelessness and solve the underlying issues.”

According to Mike Nicholas, communications manager at London-based charity Thames Reach, 3,975 people were recorded sleeping rough in London at some point last year. He added that while progress was being made, more will be done this year to pull rough sleepers out of the homelessness trap. “People need more than just tea and sympathy,” he told The Pavement. “We need to put our energy into outreach programmes to get more people off the street.” Nicholas added that one soup run had managed to get 20 people into accommodation by moving into an indoor hostel environment with greater outreach resources.

For people new to the streets this year, the introduction of No Second Night Out (NSNO) is already proving successful. The programme, which aims to ensure that anyone found sleeping rough is immediately transferred to accommodation, has helped some 200 homeless people to move off the streets. Nicholas states that while more than 3,000 rough sleepers were recorded last year, many of these are brought into accommodation quickly due to the numerous hostels and programmes such as NSNO. “We found 349 ‘entrenched’ rough sleepers last year,” he said. “Many of these people suffer from mental health and addiction problems and need much more help and support.”

In addition to more winter shelters, Nicholas said that severe weather emergency shelters will be set up during the colder months. “When we have cold, snowy weather this winter, there will be extra beds across the capital available to anyone who needs them.” He added that, while many people struggle to get hostel accommodation at other times of year due to immigration and addiction issues, bed spaces will be available to all regardless of circumstances during harsh weather.

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