Grimsby homeless shelter forced to turn rough sleepers away
Harbour Place said it often struggles to meet demand.
Increasing pressures on Grimsby homeless shelter Harbour Place are increasingly forcing it to make the difficult decision of who can stay in their night shelter, and who must spend the night on the streets.
Harbour Place Project Director Robin Barr said: "All the people who turn up at our door are in real need of help, and trying to decide between two people in real need is almost impossible to do."
Homeless across England is at a record high
Figures from homeless charity Shelter record a 10% rise in the number of people sleeping rough in North East Lincolnshire between 2022 and 2023.
It says homelessness in England is "at a record high and is continuing to rise", with 279,390 homeless at a given night as of 30 June 2023.
Robin Barr said: "Life expectancy for a man on the streets is something like 42 years old and lower than that for a woman, so there's a real risk to people - you're 17 times more likely to be attacked if you're living on the streets than the rest of the public."
The continued cost of living crisis as well as difficulty finding affordable places to rent are among the factors thought to be driving more people onto the streets and towards Harbour Place's night shelter.
Rough sleepers lives are being put at risk
Harbour Place Project Manager Dennis Batty said that the combination of cold weather and a lack of medical care means rough sleepers' lives are at risk this winter.
He said: "we take food out, we try to take warm clothing out, we make sure they've got drinks and things like that. We go around trying to find people and trying to keep them warm and make sure that nobody succumbs (to the cold)."
Harbour Place will be hosting the 'Great Grimsby Sleep Out' on 16 February to raise money for the charity.