Homelessness outreach teams have helped more than 1,000 people facing nights sleeping outside in subzero temperatures in England and Wales, after alerts from the public.
Charities said record numbers of referrals had been received over the past three days via the StreetLink phone app – which enables the public to help street sleepers – reflecting heightened concern as temperatures have dropped.
With much of the UK blanketed in snow, many local authorities kept emergency night shelters open, while homeless charities reported a surge in public donations of food, clothes and sleeping bags.
The StreetLink app and helpline have taken nearly 4,500 referrals since Monday. After duplicates were stripped out, about 2,000 were passed on to council teams. StreetLink estimates that half of those led to contact with a rough sleeper, and about 10% led to people being offered shelter.
Matt Harrison, StreetLink’s social enterprise director, said: “This record number of referrals is inspiring to see, and is the first step people can take to ensure individuals sleeping rough receive the support they need to get into the warm and move away from homelessness for good.”
In London, the mayor’s office said that almost 1,000 bed spaces, run by councils, charities and faith groups, were available across the capital on each night when temperatures fell below zero. They were likely to remain open all week.
Richard Curtis, 66, from London, had slept in a night shelter in east London on Tuesday night. He had been discharged from hospital a week earlier after treatment for lung disease. “The cold makes the problem worse, without a doubt,” he said. “If I was not in that cold weather shelter at that moment, there’s only one other place I would be – at a hospital. Because my body can’t cope with it.”
Glasgow city council said that everyone who needed a bed for the night would be found one, after concerns were expressed about people being turned away from the main city-centre night shelter. A spokesman said: “There are beds and shelter available in the city for people who need them.”
Hunched in the archway next to Glasgow’s Royal Exchange Square, Robbie Yuill described the weather conditions as brutal. On Tuesday, despite turning up well in advance of his regular night shelter opening its doors, the 26-year-old was turned away because all the places there were taken. He feared that the same would happen on Wednesday night. “It was just freezing being out last night. I’m wearing thermals under my jeans, but it doesn’t make much difference.”
The homelessness charity St Mungo’s said it had opened extra night shelter beds in Bristol, London, Brighton and Oxford. Manchester city council said it had triggered emergency shelter provision 12 times this winter, over a total of 30 nights, with about 200 rough sleepers referred by outreach workers over the period.
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis, said: “Over the last few days, we’ve seen a huge outpouring of support from the public ... We have also heard from those who want to know how we can end the homelessness crisis for good, which has been particularly heartening to see. More and more people are recognising that no one should ever have to sleep rough, whatever time of year it is.”
Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: “It is completely unacceptable that people face sleeping rough at any time of the year, but when temperatures plummet, their lives are at even greater risk.”
Additional reporting: Frances Perraudin, Damien Gayle and Libby Brooks
