Supporting Rough Sleepers

We have been working closely with The Passage to provide additional support to rough sleepers, and they have shared a recent success story with us. The Passage, working alongside our Street Team, help to support individuals out of rough sleeping in the Quarter and into accommodation. We put in extra funding last year to enable more detailed and targeted support to help people who are bedded down in the area. The case study of ‘SS’ shows the challenging circumstances many of those bedded down in the Quarter and elsewhere have experienced, as well as the difficulties in supporting individuals into accommodation.

SS is from Newcastle and worked as a decorator but left the city, fleeing from threats related to financial debts. SS was first seen by The Passage’s Community Intervention Team (CIT) in August 2021 in Victoria, where they were referred into accommodation. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out and they were then seen and engaged with regularly by the CIT in the Quarter, who made a referral to Harrow Road Hostel. SS was accepted at the hostel and after a wait for a bed was able to move in for a month. After that time, they decided to return to Newcastle to resolve their differences with their family.

Sadly, the situation in Newcastle proved impractical and in January SS was back and regularly bedded down in the Baker Street area, so CIT made another referral to Harrow Road. As well as the wait for a bed (Harrow Road can help up to 41 people at a time), there were setbacks in getting SS back there including a Covid-19 outbreak at the hostel. During this time, SS was really struggling on the streets with the extremely cold weather and health problems, like an infection to their hands.

The Passage’s CIT were able to work with another agency and make an emergency referral to a different hostel for SS to stay in while their health improved. We’re pleased to say that SS has now been able to move back into Harrow Road Hostel, which offers short stays and connections for those staying with them, advice and links to more support through a team of case workers and co-ordinators.

To find out more about The Passage, whose CIT work closely alongside our own Street Team, and what your business can do to help read our recent interview with The Passage’s Josh here.