New Isle of Man homeless shelter held up by staffing concerns

There is currently no dedicated emergency homeless shelter on the Isle of Man

Plans by the Manx government for an interim emergency homeless shelter have been held up by staffing issues, the infrastructure minister has said.

It comes after the closure of the Graih charity's shelter in September left the island without any beds.

Chris Thomas said this had accelerated existing government plans to commission a new facility by April next year.

An interim service should be in place by January but finding staff to work overnight was a challenge, he added.

Mr Thomas said: "It has been four nights on, four nights off, overnight with people with troubled lives, it is a difficult job, and full respect to the people who have done that at Graih for so long."

The minister previously committed to finding an interim solution when the charity announced it would cease operations after problems maintaining staffing levels.

There was currently demand for four or five overnight beds on the island and two support workers were required to man any replacement shelter, Mr Thomas said.

The potential location of any replacement facility for Graih's former night shelter on Broadway in Douglas has not yet been decided.

'Short notice'

His comments came after a question in the House of Keys to Chief Minister Alfred Cannan about what support is currently available to homeless people on the Isle of Man.

Mr Cannan said the current gap in provision was "not ideal", but Manx Care's adult social care and mental health support teams were available to help vulnerable adults.

Graih's closure was an "unfortunate issue that occurred at short notice", he added.

Mr Thomas said the government would run the shelter from 1 January if needed, but the long-term ambition was to commission one of the island's charities to run the service.