Church shelters forced to turn away homeless

Published on Monday 23 November 2009 08:38

CHURCHES offering emergency shelter to the homeless are having to turn people away because they cannot cope with the soaring numbers, it has emerged.

One senior politician linked the problem to the city council's decision to ban people from sleeping in the Cowgate night shelter.

A total of 75 city churches take it in turns to open their halls, offering a hot meal, a mat and blankets, breakfast and advice. The five-month winter scheme is run by Bethany Christian Trust and funded from donations.

The church shelters have operated for several years, but Bethany confirmed it had seen an increase in demand since it began this year's scheme three weeks ago.

Lothians Labour MSP George Foulkes said he understood that on some nights there were twice as many people seeking shelter as there were places available – one night, there were said to be 78 people but just 40 spaces.

He said: "I am extremely concerned that there are more people in need of shelter at the Bethany shelters than there are beds.

"The changes at the Cowgate centre must be having an impact on that and I will be monitoring the situation very closely."

The running of the Cowgate centre was transferred to charity Streetwork earlier this year after a tendering process by the council.

As part of a new policy, homeless people are no longer allowed to sleep overnight on the premises, but are supposedly directed to alternative accommodation.

Housing convener Paul Edie has said the new homelessness strategy, with an emphasis on prevention, has helped cut the number of homeless people in Edinburgh by eight per cent.

However, Lord Foulkes said: "Cllr Edie has consistently claimed the tendering of homeless services has been a success – I wonder if he would like to go to the Bethany shelter where people are being turned away and ask them if they think that."

One worker helping the homeless, who asked not to be named, said: "On the night they closed the Cowgate centre, the number of people needing shelter went up from 24 to 48, but there was only capacity for 30.

"The churches do the best they can with the very limited resources they have, but it is stretching a service that was never designed to be the main provision and it is the homeless people who lose out."

"It is often the most vulnerable people who are left out in the cold. People with learning disabilities or drug or alcohol addictions are the most likely to find themselves knocked back.

Dan Reynolds, a deputy manager with Bethany, said "We have noticed an increase in the number of people using our care shelter but it is too early to establish a pattern."

He could not provide any figures about people being turned away from the churches.

He said: "Logically if the shelter is full and more people turn up, they cannot be accommodated and they will be turned away."

A council spokesman said there was an emergency out of hours service with access to hostel and B&B accommodation and the council believed there was no need for anyone to sleep rough in Edinburgh.