£97,000 for new facility to house Cornwall's homeless when they leave hospital
Harbour Housing is carrying out a major refurbishment at Little Cosgarne in St Austell
Last updated 4th Nov 2021
A new facility to provide accommodation for homeless people when they are discharged from hospital has been given a boost with £97,000 of government funding.
Harbour Housing has been refurbishing Little Cosgarne at its Cosgarne Hall site in St Austell in order to help people who might find themselves at risk of homelessness after a stay in hospital.
The building has been adapted so that it can provide rooms for people in wheelchairs as well as those with hearing and sight impairments.
This week it was announced that the scheme will get £97,500 from the Homelessness Winter Transformation Fund – the only organisation in Cornwall and Devon to get money from the fund.
Project manager Kate Moss said that the creation of the facility had been a “dream” for some time and was particularly needed as they had seen an increase in the number of people being referred for help who had particular health needs.
She said that currently these people would usually be placed in accommodation which is not ideal for their requirements such as B&Bs and budget hotels.
"At the moment people are blocking bed space in hospital or go somewhere inappropriate, we will potentially be able to provide somewhere which is much more suitable.
"At present it is B&Bs or Travelodge which is not ideal, if you are then having carers or support workers coming in it is a very public environment, it can be really challenging.
"They can go in and out of hospital or end up on the street again. They can also keep using the emergency department at Treliske – it can be somebody who might have over a year 20 or more presentations at hospitals and are at high risk of injury or illness.
"With winter coming up we thought what better way of spending this funding but by transforming what we have already got to meet the needs of men and women who find themselves in this situation".
Kate said that without the funding the project is unlikely to have got off the ground and said she was delighted that it had received support from the Government.
"We have some match funding and a small bit of funding, but there is no way we could have done this without that funding. It is a significant investment.
"We have been delivering the hospital discharge support project since January and there are a huge number of people being referred to with physical disabilities who have specific needs.
"This project will meet that need – it won’t take away the need completely but we will be able to help a lot more people than we can now.
"It can be very frustrating as there is no other reason that we cannot help these people other than not having the right facilities. I am massively excited about this as it is something we have wanted to do for a long time".
Little Cosgarne will have rooms which are wheelchair accessible and have turning spaces available, along with outdoor spaces.
All the rooms will have walk in showers and the upstairs will be accessible by a stairlift. Specialist features are being added to aid those with hearing and sight impairments. It will be able to accommodate up to seven people
It will also be the location of Harbour Housing’s end of life care provision which has been created in cooperation with Cornwall Hospice Care and health services.
Kate said: "We have had a few people who have needed our end of life care model, we work with the hospice with rough sleepers who have come to the end of their life. They will have a real sanctuary and it has been built with that in mind.
"It has views out on to the garden farm and it is quite a calm space, like a hospice but also meeting their needs as a rough sleeper and complex needs".