A new night shelter will open next month to help tackle the growing number of rough sleepers in Nottingham city centre.
The pilot project will be operated by Emmanuel House and comes off the back of Nottingham City Council's successful bid for funding to the central Government.
The night shelter will provide emergency overnight accommodation between April and November.
It will be open for anyone over the age of 18 and will provide those who find themselves on the streets with physical and emotional support, including helping them into permanent, long-term accommodation.
People's individual needs will be assessed at Emmanuel House and they will then be referred to the temporary shelter, where support centre staff will work with them to help them to move on.
Rough sleeping in Nottingham has 'increased substantially' - but what is the solution?
The new shelter is a response to the increase in rough sleepers on the city's streets.
Rough sleeping in Nottingham has 'increased substantially' - but what is the solution? that numbers had increased from 34 in November last year to 41 in December and then 49, including those in emergency provision, in January.
This marked a stark increase from the four people who were found sleeping rough in January 2013.
The numbers in February slightly dipped, to 37 people on average per night, but so far this March there has been an average of 41 people sleeping rough each and every night in the city.
Emmanuel House currently operates the winter shelter, which will now remain open until 2020 instead of closing this month, using funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's rapid rehousing pathway scheme.
More than £460,000 was awarded to the council to tackle homelessness in the city, with £280,000 going towards a new rough sleeping hub operated by Framework, which opened in February.
The new night shelter will be held at numerous venues around the city, similar to the winter shelter, which alternates between venues every four weeks.
Each night, the team unpacks the bedding and utilities, so those in need can sleep and get support during the night.
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This is then packed up in the morning as the venues are usually used for other services during the day.
Between October 8, 2018, and March 14 this year, the charity has helped 55 rough sleepers move into permanent accommodation.
Denis Tully, chief executive of Emmanuel House said: "We are delighted to be able to offer an emergency night shelter over the summer months as part of the city-wide Rapid Rehousing Pathway.
"Already we are moving an average of two people each week out of rough sleeping into a home of their own, and together with other partners in the city we are reducing the numbers of rough sleepers."
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Councillor Linda Woodings, portfolio holder for housing and planning at the council, said: "We’re pleased our bid for Rapid Rehousing Pathway funding from the Government was successful.
"It is being put to a range of uses, including Emmanuel House operating a night shelter from spring to autumn in addition to the existing winter shelter.
"This responds to the increase in rough sleeping, meaning that support measures sadly now need to be in place all year round.
"We remain fully committed to ensuring nobody needs to sleep on Nottingham’s streets and this is a further measure to add to the range of support we already have in place."
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