20 rooms in Cambridge provided to help rough sleepers this winter
Twenty rooms have been made available near Cambridge city centre for people who would otherwise be sleeping rough this winter.
The rooms, with en-suite facilities, are being made available by the charity It Takes a City and are funded by donations and a Cambridge City Council grant.
Volunteers at the charity and the Cambridge Churches Homelessness Project will help to run the project and provide hot meals to residents.
CATS Global Schools is the landlord of the main winter provision site, which will be accepting new residents until the end of February 2023. The scheme will stay open to those already in the accommodation until the end of March - or later if there is severe weather then.
Beds are being made available to anyone locally connected to Cambridge who has been identified as sleeping rough by the Cambridge Street Outreach team.
Those housed in the rooms will be helped with a resettlement plan so they can move on, but will be able to retain them during the scheme until suitable longer-term accommodation becomes available.
City councillor Gerri Bird (Lab, East Chesterton), executive councillor for housing, said: “Following the successful results we saw from providing this secure accommodation for people across the winter last year, we are continuing with a similar approach this winter. Our approach has demonstrated the good work that can be achieved by partners, by providing a stable, sustained place for people to stay, alongside intensive resettlement support.
“Anyone taking advantage of a bed through the Winter Provision will be offered support and advice to address their individual needs, and to help them move away from rough sleeping and into safe, longer-term accommodation.”
The council and partners previously provided emergency accommodation in winter through the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP), providing space in a communal sleeping area in bad conditions until weather improve, but developed a different model to tackle the city’s homelessness problem during the pandemic.
To help rough sleepers in Cambridge, you can:
- Report if someone is sleeping rough via Streetlink by calling 0300 500 0914 or visiting streetlink.org.uk
- Donate to Cambridge Street Aid, the charitable fund helping people to get off, and stay off, the streets, via the contactless giving points in the city or online at justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/cambridgeshirecommunity/csa
- Visit the Street Support website at https://streetsupport.net/cambridge/
- There is more on the support services available at cambridge.gov.uk/services-for-rough-sleepers
