Emergency night shelter in Wolverhampton to open year round
An emergency night shelter for Wolverhampton’s homeless looks set to open year round after securing an extended stay at its home.
The shelter, which is based at The Church at Broad Street in Westbury Street, has opened the past two winters providing beds for 20 people.
Shelter bosses have now been offered space at the church for a whole year and are looking for a team of volunteers and the necessary funding.
Matthieu Lambert, who runs the shelter, said: "An agreement has been reached for us to use an area of the building for 12 months, beginning in around November.
"When we closed earlier this year there was a report written on what would happen moving forward and what the city needed to best serve both its homeless community and the other services interacting with them.
"Not surprisingly having seen the impact we were having there was some concerns about the impact us closing would have.
"If services can refer to us and ask for our help then it gives them two or three days to find a solution tailored to an individual's needs. They were finding that we were easing the pressure on them."
The shelter was launched in the 2015/16 winter after a woman who was found dead outside Nandos on Queen Street.
It is a joint project between Tabernacle Baptist Church and Grace Church Wolverhampton.
Its initial run in 2016 was paid for by more than £5,000 of donations from the public, including money from St Peter’s Collegiate School and the Greggs Foundation.
The shelter again opened between January and March this year and ended up extending its run until April.
Mr Lambert, added: "The report this year said that the shelter needs to become a permanent fixture of the city.
"Now we have secured a facility for 12 months - but ultimately the idea is to get to a point where no emergency provision is needed in Wolverhampton.
"To make sure we can open in November, however, we need around 150 volunteers on the books as we have to have a minimum number every night.
"We also need to raise in the region of £50,000 to be able to run it just for one year. We are actively looking at funding options and encouraging people to donate."
More information about the shelter, including details on how to volunteer or donate, is available at the ‘Wolverhampton Emergency Night Shelter’ Facebook page.
