Coronavirus: 'Dozens of Brighton homeless need soup kitchen'

Jim Deans of Sussex Homeless Support said dozens of rough sleepers recently housed by Brighton and Hove City Council continue to go to his street kitchen every night.

He recorded as many as 52 homeless people attending the soup kitchen on a typical day.

“The fact that so many people are still coming to the soup kitchen suggests something is wrong,” Mr Deans said.

“Some of them said they are not getting enough food each day so they are coming here.

“We’re getting gloves and masks and cleaning our place down. We’ve been giving out sanitary products too.

“I can’t blame anyone specifically for failing but it doesn’t feel like the response to this has been thought through.”

Homeless campaigner Mr Deans claimed some homeless were not getting enough food

But the city council insisted the 170 homeless it has housed since the pandemic began are all being properly fed, as well as those still on the streets.

And housing chief Councillor Gill Williams said there was no need for anyone to be sleeping rough or begging at the moment.

“We’ve successfully secured enough safe accommodation for everyone rough sleeping,” she said.

“We’ve set up our buildings to make sure everyone can be medically triaged and placed into self-contained accommodation based on their medical risk from Covid-19.

“Our street outreach service St Mungo’s is working with Arch Healthcare to assess everyone before allocating them an appropriate place to stay.

“All accommodation is being staffed 24 hours a day to make sure everyone can access the support they need.

“Volunteers working with us and our partners are providing three meals a day, including a hot meal in the evening, to over 200 people.

“Volunteers are also continuing to give out food and water to people still on the streets. “

Brighton and Hove housing chief Councillor Gill Williams said there is no need for anyone to sleep rough in the city

The city council insisted those in emergency accommodation who are not former rough sleepers are also being supported by its housing team. And it claimed it is the only council outside London ensuring all rough sleepers are sorted into accommodation based on their medical risk.

Public Health England recommends rough sleepers with medical conditions are housed separately to those without.

“We’ve set up the accommodation to make sure we have separate buildings to stay for anyone with symptoms and for the people at the highest risk,” Cllr Williams said.

“We also provided emergency accommodation for people who came to our emergency homeless team over the weekend to make sure they had somewhere safe to stay.

“I’d like to thank everyone involved in this co-ordinated, caring and compassionate response, especially all the fantastic volunteers.

“It’s been inspiring to see so many organisations come together to provide this.”

• The coronavirus Sussex Crisis Fund has been set up to help those affected by the pandemic. The Argus’s charity and American Express have each donated £50,000 to kick-start the appeal. Grants will usually be for up to £5,000. More information is available at www.sussexgiving. org.uk/apply. To donate visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/sussexcrisisfund