We’ve now secured two more hotels in the city to provide safe accommodation for people sleeping rough during the Covid-19 crisis.
We’re getting the buildings ready and aim to start moving people in straightaway.
We’ve now helped around 140 people move off the streets into safe accommodation and are providing food and support to them all.
However, it’s a moving picture and, with new cases, we still anticipate there are around 50 more people in need of somewhere safe to stay in the city.
Our outreach service St Mungo’s will continue work over the weekend to help everyone sleeping rough move into the safe accommodation we have available.
St Mungo’s are working with Arch Healthcare to make sure everyone is checked for symptoms before allocating them an appropriate place to stay.
Volunteers co-ordinated by the council with support from St Mungo’s, The Passage and Galvanise are continuing to give out food and water to anyone still on the streets.
If you see anyone rough sleeping, please let our street outreach service know by emailing BrightonSOS@mungos.org so we can help move them off the streets
We are also working closely with people living in vans in the city to make sure they have the support they need to keep themselves safe.
We are in regular communication with the groups we know of and have checked to see if they need support. We are also monitoring all new groups and contacting them as soon as we can.
This is a huge effort and I once again send my heartfelt thanks to all involved in the coordinated, caring and compassionate response.
Councillor Gill Williams
Chair of Housing
