Rough sleepers will be housed in B&Bs by Redbridge Council this weekend as temperatures hit zero – and you can play an important role in ensuring they find respite.
Cllr Farah Hussain, cabinet member for housing and homeless, took to Twitter last night (December 13) to announce that the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol has been activated.
“Anyone sleeping rough is able to access emergency accommodation from tonight until Monday (December 17) when when we open our second winter night shelter in Ilford,” she said.
She added: “This shelter will accommodate 32 people and provide them with a warm and safe place to stay during the winter months.”
As the Recorder reported last week, this night shelter will be based in the former Ryedale Court care home, in Ilford Lane.
It will become the second in the borough alongside the Salvation Army-run shelter in Clements Road.
Both shelters will remain upon until pioneering pop-up hostel Project Malachi opens in summer 2019.
Cllr Hussain said: “We have enough beds to ensure that no one is sleeping outside this winter.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan triggered the protocol yesterday for all borough’s across the capital, where previously shelters were opened on a borough-by-borough basis.
How to help
Residents have an imporant role to play, Cllr Hussain said, in reporting anyone they see sleeping rough through website StreetLink.
Outreach workers will visit those reported to get them indoors.
Go to streetlink for more information streetlink.org.uk/Redbridge Together
Redbridge Together, of which the Recorder is a media partner, aims to raise £500,000 for Project Malachi and The Welcome Centre.
Project Malachi will see the creation of a temporary hostel for rough sleepers and homeless people made from recycled shipping containers in Chadwick Road.
Support workers from charity Ramfel will provide rough sleepers living in the hostel with immigration advice if they need it.
The Welcome Centre, in St Mary’s Road, helps with providing hot meals, showers, clothing and laundry but also advice and support, training and employment and a nurse-led clinic supporting health and mental health.
Businesses can support by donating money, raising funds, displaying Redbridge Together promotional material or offering work placements.
The campaign is an association between Ilford Salvation Army, The Welcome Centre, Ilford BID, the Ilford Recorder and Redbridge Council.
To get involved email aaron.walawalkar@archant.co.uk
Donate £3 by texting LIFE to 70145 or at Crowdfunder.co.uk/RedbridgeTogether
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