Cornwall’s first roving emergency centre for the homeless has opened its doors.

Cornwall is among the councils which is benefiting from funding for a “Somewhere Safe to Stay” rough sleeping centre.

The first homeless centre in the county opened in Truro on Monday, and is based at the St Petroc's Society building on City Road.

The hub will be open and staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, housing up to ten individuals at any one time. It will move location every six weeks, with sites also being explored in Penzance, Falmouth, St Austell, Newquay and Liskeard.

People will receive specialist, personalised support at the hub locations, linking them up with health and housing services so that, with the support they need, they can move on into settled and sustainable accommodation.

The roving hub is one of four initiatives being launched by Cornwall Housing to help tackle rough sleeping in the county.

Cornwall Housing has hired 20 people to run the initiatives after receiving a grant of nearly £1m from the Government.

In the summer months rough sleepers head to the coast in huge numbers to escape the large cities, and Cornwall and Brighton are two of the most popular destinations.

Cornwall has more rough sleepers than any other county in the UK – although the number of rough sleepers is falling.

The St Petroc's Society building on City Road

Across our county, 53 people were found to be sleeping rough in autumn 2018, down by 22% from 68 in 2017.

The cash will also fund support for rough sleepers who are moving into their own homes, often for the first time. The support will help them learn the skills, like budgeting, cooking and occupying their time, necessary to stay in their own homes.

More in-depth support for those who have multiple and complex needs, such as addiction and severe and enduring mental health problems, will be available to help them get off the streets.

This ‘navigator’ service will include a single point of contact who co-ordinate support, across multiple agencies, like access to healthcare and treatment services for each homeless person.  Cornwall Housing will also work with Groundswell to train formerly homeless people to become peer mentors to those in need.

In addition, the Cornwall Housing private lettings team will be expanded into the north and east of the county to help move single people and childless couples who have experienced homelessness to move on from supported housing into properties.

Andrew Mitchell, portfolio holder for housing at Cornwall Council, said: “In April of this year 18 people were supported off the streets through a range of existing projects funded by Cornwall Council, Cornwall Housing and central government’s rough sleeper initiative.

“Unfortunately new rough sleepers, and former rough sleepers who have been unable to stay in the accommodation provided, still end up on the streets each month.

“It’s clear we need to be more creative in providing solutions that will reach more people and help those we help to stay off the streets for good."     

Cornwall Housing managing director Nick Cross added: “The needs of rough sleepers are often complex and vary from person to person, so there’s not a single solution that works for everyone. It’s important, too, that we do as much as we can to help prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place.

“We’ll be able to reach more people and intervene at an earlier stage to help further reduce the number of rough sleepers in the county.”

If you are rough sleeping or see someone sleeping rough you can contact Streetlink through its website www.streetlink.org.uk or by calling 0300 500 0914 (or 999 if they need urgent medical assistance).

Individuals sleeping rough can also contact the Cornwall Housing Options Team on 0300 1234 161 or contact the Council’s information service (formerly called One Stop Shop).

Follow Mike Smallcombe on social media

Mike's work focuses mainly on crime and longread features.

Follow Mike on Twitter, here, or tweet him @mikesmallcombe1.

He's also on Instagram, here.

You can call Mike on 01872-309681 or email him at mike.smallcombe@reachplc.com

You can read more of Mike's stories, here.

Follow Mike Smallcombe on Twitter or email him mike.smallcombe@reachplc.com