Birmingham churches open new winter shelter

Five churches in Birmingham will be involved in a new Winter Shelter due to open in February providing basic accommodation to homeless people who would otherwise be sleeping rough.

This new initiative to help homeless people is being led by the Anglican Diocese of Birmingham, Thrive Together Birmingham team with support from Housing Justice and the Birmingham Christian Homeless Forum. The shelter is being viewed as a pilot project with the aim of opening for a longer period with more churches involved next winter.

The churches based in Newtown, Ladywood, Birchfield, Weoley Castle and Quinton have all agreed to open up their church halls to provide a refuge from freezing temperatures. The shelter will open on Thursday, 2 February for one month.

Homeless people will be able to access the project via the Helpdesk team at St Martins in the Bullring.

While the most recent official street count only identified a handful of rough sleepers in Birmingham city centre, churches and agencies giving help and accommodation to homeless people recognise there is much larger hidden need. Many rough sleepers take refuge away from the public gaze, in underground car parks or in unheated disused buildings. At a time when central government funding is being reduced and housing need is growing, churches across the country are playing a valuable role providing help and hospitality to those in need.

Housing Justice convenes a forum for church winter shelters, and has created 'Shelter in a Pack' a resource for churches responding to homelessness in the community. The new Birmingham shelter will launch during Poverty and Homelessness Action Week (28th January - 5th February) which is organised every year by Housing Justice, Church Action on Poverty and Scottish Churches Housing Action. The 2012 theme is 'Breaking Barriers'.

Dr Graham Stubbs from St Martins in the Bullring said the project: "will give people who sometimes struggle to access other accommodation a valuable safety net".

Sarah Turner of Thrive commented: "The level of response from churches wanting to support this project has been extraordinary and we have volunteers from a range of different denominations offering their time. It is amazing to see the church, in all its diversity, come together to help those in need".

Paul Reilly of Housing Justice added: "What is so exciting about this project, when many fear for the disintegration of society, is the way in which the Christian faith community and others have come together to work to help those who are at the margins. This collaboration is what will form the foundation of so much healthy regeneration in the future and is but a part of what is happening nationally"

For more information on Housing Justice, see: www.housingjustice.org.uk

Shelter in a Pack is available to download from: www.housingjustice.org.uk/resources.php/567/shelter-in-a-pack

Poverty and Homelessness Action Week www.actionweek.org.uk