The Overnight Welcome Centre closed its doors on 31 March 2021.
In previous years when we ran the Winter Night Shelter (WNS) this would have meant a short spell of report writing, storing of materials and thanking of partners, donors, volunteers and supporters for the WNS manager before finishing up on 30 April.
This year is very different. Lorna and Pam, who job share as our Housing Settlement Officer, and Elyse our OWC Manager are still full on with our guests.
They are actively advocating for 58 individuals whose situations are summarised as follows:
| Individuals | Current Destinations |
| 19 | Hotels-short term of this 15 have No Right To Remain (NRPF) and 3 of this 15 are returning to their country of origin. |
| 11 | Temporary Furnished Flat (TFF) |
| 9 | Women’s Supported Accommodation |
| 9 | Men’s Supported Accommodation |
| 10 | Tenancy (ongoing) |
This is a diverse and complicated mix of guests and their circumstances that ensure our colleagues continue to be very busy.
Last week this involved sourcing furniture and other items required for an empty flat that one of our guests was moving into. In the attached photographs, you can see Pam and Elyse delivering furniture to a 19th floor flat. The elevator only went up to the 18th floor so the manual handling training they had undertaken came in very handy!
Our team are doing a terrific job that is both satisfying and frustrating, however, we are delighted that they will continue to work for the benefit of our guests right through to the end of November as they seek to find the right solutions for them all.
