Scarborough's Rainbow Centre there to help during cold weather
A weather warning for ice is in place for tonight on the Yorkshire Coast
A weather warning for ice is in place on the Yorkshire Coast from tonight.
The Met Office has a yellow alert between 6pm and midday tomorrow (Thursday 8th December), the same time as a level three Cold Weather Alert for the area.
The Rainbow Centre in Scarborough helps people who are struggling due to the lower temperatures, especially those without a home or are rough sleeping.
Team Leader, Ali Harvey, said: "It's quite distressing times really. We are seeing so many new clients now that we haven't seen before and one of the shifts that we have noticed is with the elderly. For example, we've got new clients coming in now that are in their 80s with no electric on at home. They're just in so much need and we're seeing so many new clients in that way.
"The other day we got people coming in who were just breaking down and having panic attacks because they just can't afford to heat their homes. It's a nightmare."
Mark Hardy is also a Team Leader and added: "There are people who are quite embarrassed to be in that situation and we get a lot of professional people as well, people who are working all week."
Ali said: "We have seen that there's a lot of homeless at the moment and we're worried about that. We have the day centre here at Rainbow so it's a warm space for people that are homeless to keep warm. They can use the facilities, showers, washing their clothes and we can help with food and sleeping bags etc.
"Just today we have a new client that's gone to the hospital to get warm. It's a new chap that we've got who's rough sleeping. We are working with quite a lot of homeless at the moment so we do see quite a few in the town centre.
"We're here to help those that are in need. We work with such a diverse group of people so not just homeless people but we work with mental health, particularly since Covid, and now more so with the cost of living crisis. The level of mental health that's out of the street has just risen significantly.
"People just generally who can't afford to eat , like professional people, it doesn't matter who you are, what your background is, come in and see us. We will do whatever we can do help you and if we can't help you, we will do our best to source somebody who can."
Find out more about the Rainbow Centre in Scarborough on their website.