B&B option for Newark and Sherwood's rough sleepers shelter after closure of Newark Baptist Church

Emergency winter night shelter accommodation in Newark this year will be in council properties and hotel or bed and breakfast rooms.

Members of Newark and Sherwood District Council’s home and communities committee was told that, because of coronavirus, Public Health England guidance prevented the use of all communal sleeping arrangements and shared bathroom facilities, such as in shelters.

The guidelines led to the closure in March of a winter night shelter at Newark Baptist Church, which had been open since November. It had 13 beds and helped an average of ten people a night

The shelter was run as a partnership between the Salvation Army, the baptist church and the district council, paid for by a £22,000 donation and a £10,000 government grant.

A report to the committee said the shelter had been available not just to rough sleepers, but also those at risk of rough sleeping, to try to engage with them before they reached crisis point.

The report said: “Guidelines continue to prevent the use of communal sleeping arrangements and shared bathroom facilities.

“The council is looking for alternative provision and the faith and voluntary sector are still eager to work in partnership for a solution.

“The 2020-21 Winter Night Shelter provision will look very different but we remain confident that we will still be able to reach and assist just as many people.

“Current plans include a teatime drop in service at Newark Baptist Church, which will include a meal and a triage assessment, which will result in a referral for emergency accommodation if necessary.

“To combat the increase in the number of rough sleepers verified as rough sleeping and to assist those that make use of the teatime drop-in service a multi-agency targeted Rough Sleeper Action Group has been created.

“Emergency winter night shelter provision will be made available using our own stock and/or a small number of rooms at a local hotel/B&B.”

The annual rough sleeper estimate for 2020, based on a one-off snapshot of the numbers of people sleeping rough in an area on a typical night and takes place between October 1 and November 30 each year.

It includes people sleeping, about to bed down, or already bedded down in the open, such as on streets, in tents, doorways, parks, bus shelters or camps, and other places not designed for living, such as stairwells, barns, sheds, carparks, cars, boats, stations, or bashes.

The 2020 estimate in the Newark district, based on October 15, identified six homeless rough sleepers.

Mr Lawrence Goff said he thought the figure was low.

“I think it is higher because there are some people sleeping rough on sofas and sharing until whatever happens next There are people who are staying with relatives or whatever, so I don’t think those figures can be accurate for all sorts of reasons.”

Housing options officer Leanne Monger said: “That figure is a snapshot of one particular night, but we are well aware of some additional rough sleepers or individuals that are vulnerably housed that we are working with to try to secure some successful outcomes for.”

She urged members who might come across rough sleepers to notify officers so they could be helped.

Councillors noted the report and endorsed the ongoing work that was being done to support rough sleepers in the district.