Tackling rough sleeping during COVID-19

With no home to safely isolate inside, rough sleepers were particularly vulnerable. We have been working to ensure that no one had to sleep on the streets in Southampton during the lockdown.

Our Street Homeless Prevention Team have been out every weekday finding and chatting with rough sleepers, offering support and safe, secure accommodation. Working together with local homelessness charity Two Saints and the Homelessness Healthcare Team we have supported over 100 people to get off the streets and into accommodation during the COVID-19 crisis. Rough sleepers have been housed in hostels and bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation to enable them to safely lockdown, limit the risks of the virus and reduce street begging.

As well as a roof, we’ve provided ongoing support to help everyone placed in emergency accommodation to move forward and onto the next stage of their lives, rather than returning to the streets. Personalised plans have been developed with each individual and tailored support offered to help with a range of issues including claiming benefits, tackling substance misuse, improving personal health and mental wellbeing. Together with volunteers and local churches we’ve even been able to deliver hot meals every day to those housed in B&Bs.

Thanks to this support, many rough sleepers and people at risk of homelessness have since moved out of the B&Bs and into settled accommodation. This includes Jane, who had nowhere to go when she was discharged from hospital. With our help Jane found out she was eligible for an over 60s council property and recently secured a flat of her own in Shirley. She says that, despite health problems and battles with alcohol addiction in the past, she is finally looking forward to a brighter future now she has a secure home.

“My health is improving and I feel really at home in my flat. Sarah from the Street Homeless Team helped me get moved in by organising furniture and sorting my direct debits. She pops in every week to check I’m settling in OK. Life is looking much better now. I’m happy here and I’m even growing veg on my balcony!”

People end up on the streets for all kind of reasons, and we’re here to help by offering support and advice to enable rough sleepers to take control of their lives and find stable accommodation. We also work to prevent homelessness and offer support for those with nowhere else to go, for example sofa surfers and people leaving prison or hospital.

Get in touch if you’re at risk of homelessness.