Blog: Sleeping rough

The recent cold snap may have caused you to turn up the thermostat a couple of degrees but spare a thought for anyone sleeping rough.  Any number of circumstances can lead to a person sheltering under a cardboard duvet.  It’s certainly not our place to judge, but as a council we and our partners play an important role in trying to get people off the streets.

The Housing Options team works with a range of partners to give housing advice and assistance.  We work with people to help them explore their options, and also work with those who face losing their home, because we want to prevent homelessness where possible.

At the end of November 2012, Shropshire began our cold provision for rough sleepers.  We have already secured a small number of places in supported accommodation over the winter months.  We’re also securing places in private rented accommodation.  The aim is to identify rough sleepers, and where appropriate find them a temporary place and provide a period of stable accommodation with support for around three months.  The emphasis is on finding a long term solution.  At present we have two people accommodated in supported accommodation.

This week, in conjunction with The Shrewsbury Ark, we set up a Severe Weather Response due to three consecutive nights forecast at below freezing.  The Shrewsbury Ark opened their building overnight to provide rough sleepers with somewhere to be out of the cold.  The first night, it was taken up by four rough sleepers.

Long-term, Shropshire Council, along with councils throughout the West Midlands, will be adopting a ‘No Second Night Out’ approach.

We are also currently evaluating an option to develop a ‘sit up’ service for Shropshire based on good work by Cheshire East Council, and Cheshire West and Chester Council. This type of service provides overnight shelter for people who might otherwise sleep out. The aim is to provide somewhere warm and dry to sit through the night, and support services are employed to address the issues as to why the person is at risk of long-term rough sleeping.

‘Sit up’ services are often not permanently located in one building, but move from time to time, depending on the level and location of need.  This would be distinct, as it would only consider new rough sleepers in order to intervene before they spend further nights out, hence ‘No Second Night Out’.

Making all this happen will require partnership, access to buildings, staff and funding, so please contact us if you feel you can help.

Shropshire Council is also pleased to support the national launch of StreetLink this week: a new telephone line 0300 500 0914 and website www.streetlink.org.uk which will help link someone sleeping on the street with local advice and services.

StreetLink will enable members of the public to quickly connect rough sleepers to local services through making a referral, by using one of the following channels:

1. By telephoning the 24/7 StreetLink phoneline 0300 500 0914

2. By using the StreetLink website (www.streetlink.org.uk) from a desktop computer or mobile

3. By downloading the StreetLink App from the iTunes or Google Market store free of charge 

Rachel Lloyd – Senior Homelessness Strategy Officer