Our Overnight Welcome Centre (OWC) ran from 1 December 2022 until 31 March 2023. For the first time the OWC was operated from our Crimea Street building to allow us to access emergency beds from a variety of venues in Glasgow. We had no accommodation in Crimea Street but it provided a safe and welcoming space for us to engage with and help our guests through the night. In the morning our Housing Settlement Officers worked with those who were accommodated to move them out of these emergency beds and into more stable accommodation.
The OWC had a total of 534 unique guests and 1,528 presentations this season. Of these 534 guests, 280 were accommodated immediately in partnership with Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). We also provided 598 emergency beds for our guests who were not eligible for assistance through the HSCP. On 258 occasions the OWC was a safe place for our guests to wait if they did not require a bed, and 95% of our guests moved onto a positive outcome. For further detail please read our full OWC report here.
Once again, we could not have run the OWC without the support of our willing partners. We held fortnightly meetings in order to pool knowledge and advice to reach the best possible outcomes for our guests. We rely on each agency bringing their own expert knowledge of their specific fields. This year we had the HSCP Out of Hours team on site or available by phone as we placed the guests in accommodation around the city. We also had great support from Simon Community Scotland, Shelter Scotland, The Scottish Refugee Council, Govan Community Project and British Red Cross. You can see a full list of our partners here.
On behalf of our guests, thanks to all who helped make this season’s OWC a success.
