Accommodation, food and support is available for anyone sleeping rough in the city who needs the council’s help this Christmas.
Our Covid emergency accommodation remains available and our focus continues to be to help people sleeping on the streets into safe, secure accommodation.
With Covid restrictions limiting drop-in charitable events for rough sleepers this Christmas, we’re providing food for everyone who needs it in our accommodation.
Health and welfare support will also continue throughout the Christmas for everyone accommodated, both within the city and elsewhere.
We’ll be providing extra accommodation with food and drink from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day to make sure there’s an alternative option for anyone on the streets reluctant to take up the other offers.
If you’re concerned about anyone rough sleeping in the city, please let us know by reporting through the Streetlink website or by calling 0300 500 0914.
Our street outreach partners, St Mungo’s, are working in the city seven days a week, including Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and will work with anyone on the streets to support them into accommodation.
We’ve also been successful in securing extra money from the government’s ‘Cold Weather Fund’ to provide 10 more units of supported accommodation and food for vulnerable rough sleepers who until March.
We are still awaiting confirmation of the bid to the ‘Protect Fund’ to provide more specialist clinical intervention.
Ongoing care and support
We’re currently accommodating around 380 people who would otherwise be sleeping rough in the city in our Covid emergency accommodation.
Just over 160 people have now moved on from the Covid emergency accommodation since the end of September.
Most have been successfully rehoused in more stable accommodation and we’ve met the challenging target set out in the government’s Next Steps Accommodation Programme funding to move 40% of people accommodated in September on by 31 December.
Despite that success, we’re still seeing the numbers of homeless people in the city increase. In total, we’re currently housing around 800 households in emergency accommodation.
If you are threatened with homelessness, please contact our early intervention team as soon as possible. They can help with any problems making it difficult to stay in your home.
Safe and secure accommodation
Councillor David Gibson, joint chair of the Housing Committee, said: “Our priority continues to be to help everyone sleeping on the streets into safe, secure accommodation.
“Offers of accommodation continue to be made to rough sleepers seven days a week under the council’s ‘everyone in’ approach and that support will continue over Christmas and new year.
“With many of the usual charitable events for people sleeping rough not able to take place this year, we’re making sure food and drink is available for anyone who needs it in our accommodation.
“We’re also offering an alternative option for anyone still on the streets.
“The support we’ve been able to offer rough sleepers is one of the few positives in what has been a very difficult year for everybody.
“It’s testament to the hard work and excellent support officers, partners and many dedicated volunteers have been able to provide, that we’ve been successful in securing so much extra funding to help people move off the streets.
“Now we’ve been able to meet the very challenging target of moving 40% of those accommodated on, the hard work continues to help as many as possible move on to a sustainable housing solution by 1 April.
“If you are worried about anyone rough sleeping, please let us know via Streetlink so we can provide them with the support they need.”
Councillor Gill Williams, the opposition lead for housing, said: “The work to provide support and accommodation to keep people who were sleeping rough safe this year has been incredible.
“With Covid cases on the rise again, it’s vital that the support continues to keep everyone safe over Christmas and new year. I’d like to thank everyone involved for their amazing work.”
