New night shelter and accommodation set to open before Christmas
New accommodation, including a 365 day a year night shelter, is set to open in early December.
Vulnerable people who’ve been rough sleeping will be brought in from the cold and offered help away from the streets this winter.
St Patrick's Church
The service will be run by YMCA Downslink Group and the Churches Night Shelter Project at St Patrick’s Church in Cambridge Road, Hove. YMCA Downslink Group has many years’ experience of running supported accommodation services across the city.
The venue will provide a short-term home for 29 single homeless people while they are helped towards more permanent arrangements. It will also run as a night shelter for up to 15 people with a range of support needs.
There has been dedication and commitment behind the scenes to prepare for the new service. The challenge of finding a suitable building took much effort to resolve. The detailed day to day management arrangements are now agreed.
Brighton & Hove City Council’s housing committee approved the plans in September. The council is funding the new service. The budget was agreed earlier in the year at full budget council in February.
People wishing to use the hostel or night shelter will only be able to access it after engaging with the city’s rough sleeper outreach service. It is not a drop in service.
Local community
YMCA Downslink is now writing to people living nearby to inform them of the plans for the new service. Local residents near the church will also be invited to visit St Patrick’s to meet key staff and hear about how the service will be run.
The council’s lead member for rough sleeping, Councillor Nichole Brennan, said: “We’ve brought in a lot of new support to help people to move off the streets but we are determined to do more. This good news is another step in the right direction and will bring hope to many people who will find the service a stepping stone to rebuilding their lives.
“We’re determined to provide support for those who are unfortunate enough to be homeless, by giving them respect, dignity and help in their struggle to find a home. The homeless of Brighton & Hove are our citizens and our neighbours and everyone should have a right to a home.”
Supporting people
Chas Walker, YMCA Downslink Group chief executive officer, said: “YMCA DownsLink Group has provided social housing and charitable services in Brighton & Hove for a hundred years. We have strong partnership links to the wider homelessness sector.
"St Patrick’s has an important history in the city for supporting single homeless people. Our hope is that the YMCA and the Churches Night Shelter Project can write a new chapter of the story for St Patrick’s supporting the most marginalised in our community.”
More information:
- St Patrick’s was the site of a hostel run under different management that closed in summer 2019. A night shelter at the site closed many years ago. Existing planning permission for the building to be used in this way continues to apply for the new service.