Life-saving charity tackling Gloucester’s rough sleeping

Tony Hipkins volunteers at Gloucester City Mission

A charity working to tackle a rise in rough sleeping has been praised by people that rely on it.

Gloucester City Mission offers retreats for homeless people to wash, change their clothes, and have a hot meal.

Government figures estimate 19 people are sleeping rough in the city every night. The city council has received £2m to tackle the problem.

The charity also deploys street teams and offers support and training at the Renew Centre on Eastgate Street.

Sarah Fairbairn, Outreach and Recovery Lead at Gloucester City Mission, said: "We have three areas - aid, transformation and growth.

"Our street trollies are part of aid. So we're giving out coffee, tea, soup. We've got crisps or a chocolate biscuit and some fruit as well.

"Our main aim is to signpost to our retreat which is the day centre for the generally homeless," she explained.

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Nathan Casey, who runs retreats at the Renew Centre, says: "They can have hot food, showers, change their clothes and they can also get fresh clothes as well.

"We've also got the day beds where they can have a sleep if they want to. Yesterday was our record. We had 23 people in."

The most recent government statistics published in Autumn 2023, show a 24% rise in rough sleepers in Gloucester.

Ms Fairbairn says rough sleepers often aren't supported in accommodation and end up "back out and into the system."

"The accommodation isn't the problem," she said.

"The issue is that they're not supported once they're in accommodation and they're entrenched in street behaviours.

"So because they're not getting the support that they need to hold a tenancy, those behaviours slip, then they're back in the system again.

"Unfortunately I know many people that have been in this cycle."

The charity deploys a street team five days a week

Gloucester MP Richard Graham says a rise in rough sleepers "is concerning".

"Some of the situations that some of them are in are quite complex," he said. "There are quite often family breakdowns, mental health problems, addiction.

"No one should be sleeping on the streets, it's not good for them, it leads to health problems and can lead to violent situations.

"Of course it's not good for the city if you're trying to either attract visitors, or trying to encourage businesses to set up," he added.

Gloucester City Council has received more than £2m of funding to invest in temporary accommodation for homeless residents.

A vacant building on London Road will be turned into eight homes for young people who are experiencing homelessness.