Worries for rough sleepers in Surrey as temperature expected to drop to 0 degrees
Local councils provide shelter for homeless people when temperatures are 0 degrees or below for three nights in a row
There are worries for rough sleepers in Surrey and East Hampshire tonight - as temperatures are expected to drop to 0 degrees.
Currently - local councils provide shelter for homeless people when temperatures are 0 degrees or below for three nights in a row.
This is part of the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol - also known as SWEP.
Anna Coe - Project Co-ordinator for East Surrey homeless charity Renewed Hope - tells us:
"There's physical health risks of being freezing cold and the reason councils have this duty to get rough sleepers off the street is there is that risk of death if they are on these streets.
"I think in this part of Surrey, we're in East Surrey, rough sleepers can be quite hidden.
"Some people might be in the countryside, they might be on and off sofas so they might be hard to be picked up by the by the councils.
"In this cold weather they are eligible for for rough sleeping support when it gets really cold.
"But it's the nights where we think 'oh that's freezing' like tonight - and they're not actually eligible for any any state helping those nights because criteria hasn't been met.
"Even though we think it's really cold, only when it's below freezing and does the Council have a a duty to take them into B&B's.
"We run a Winter night shelter which is nearly full of people every night.
"But this captures 'non-freezing' nights as well - so we can give people more continuous support when homeless."
You can contact the charity Renewed Hope here.