More accommodation for rough sleepers in Cornwall this winter
The rooms will be staffed 24/7 by a team of experts
More accommodation is being provided for rough sleepers in the Duchy this winter.
Up to 15 additional self-contained rooms are being provided in mid Cornwall, in response to the cold winter weather.
Known as Cold Weather Provision, these rooms are available between December and March and will be staffed 24/7 and fully supported by teams of experts offering drug and alcohol treatment if required.
Cornwall Council is working with Cornwall Housing, Harbour Housing and We Are With You (WAWY), the community drug and alcohol treatment team.
Over recent years, the Council’s cold weather provision has involved housing rough sleepers at night shelters, however the Covid-19 pandemic has meant this type of accommodation is not available this year. Instead, the Council will use funding from the Government’s Cold Weather Fund to ensure rough sleepers have a place to stay, while also keeping safe from coronavirus.
“Harbour Housing is proud to be providing the support for the Cold Weather Provision. We will be assisting those entrenched in rough sleeping into safe accommodation for the winter, ensuring that they get the tailored support they need to address their problems, recover from the damaging effects of homelessness and turn their lives around forever.”
Malcolm Putko from Harbour Housing
Since the first Covid-19 lockdown in March, 168 single people in Cornwall who would otherwise have ended up sleeping rough have been offered a safe place to stay.
Cornwall Council says it is committed to ensuring that emergency accommodation is available to people who are sleeping rough and will be keeping the current 49 bed spaces available in temporary accommodation across Cornwall open until March 2021. This includes 21 temporary self-contained cabins on Cornwall Council owned sites in Penzance and Truro. We’re also sourcing more accommodation on a further site as well as keeping the self-contained rooms already available in other locations.
How you can help
Residents can also play their part in helping rough sleepers - if you see someone sleeping rough, for example, out in the open, in a tent, in a car, living in a makeshift shelter in the woods, sleeping in farm buildings etc, please contact StreetLink by visitingwww.streetlink.org.ukor by phoning them on 0300 500 0914. If you think that someone is in immediate danger and you are concerned for their safety, always call 999.
Once Cornwall Council receive a report from StreetLink, Cornwall Housing will coordinate an outreach team within 24 hours that will try and locate the person sleeping rough to offer support.
This will include finding them safe emergency accommodation, working with them to assess their immediate needs and engage with them to discuss underlying issues which may contribute to them living on the streets.
“In some cases, it is not as simple as just providing an emergency place to stay. Sometimes people have complex needs and issues. Each person will be encouraged to work with us to agree move-on plans that address not just their housing needs, but the support they need so they don’t end up returning to a life on the streets.
“We are also finding that during these uncertain times when the coronavirus pandemic has affected so many people, those who were sofa surfing or living with friends or relatives have found themselves homeless. People could no longer share their homes under the stresses of the public health emergency and the lockdown. This means that the number of people needing help with accommodation is significantly higher.”
Cornwall Council portfolio holder for homes, Andrew Mitchell
The We Are With You Drug and Alcohol Service offers help where needed including:
• giving practical advice
• supporting people to get back on their feet
• helping to get them back to friends and family
StreetLink exists to help end rough sleeping by enabling members of the public to connect people sleeping rough with the local services that can support them.
StreetLink will ask you to provide:
• A specific location for the rough sleeping site. You can do this by using a map to pinpoint the exact location and then providing a written description of the location.
• Details of the time that the rough sleeper has been seen at the location.
• Any information about the rough sleeper that will help find them (gender, approximate age, what the person looks like, what they are wearing).
You will receive details of the action the Council takes when we are told someone is sleeping rough in Cornwall and you’ll receive an update on what has happened as a result of your alert within 10 working days if you have requested it.
If you yourself are homeless or threatened with homelessness, you should contact Cornwall Housing Limited on 0300 1234 161 and ask for the Prevention and Engagement team or, if you are at risk of having to sleep rough, ask for the Homeless Assessment Hub.
You can also find useful information and advice on the Cornwall Housing website.