How council is helping the
WORKING in shifts, the dedicated team offer support to the homeless from seven in the morning until nine at night.
The day starts – like it does for most people – with breakfast.
But this is a very different world from the comfortable morning routines most of us are familiar with.
“The days starts by taking our van to the Wallich Night Shelter – they provide food for our breakfast run, which is our first chance to check in with people,” says Charlie.
“We go out from 7am around the city centre to meet with rough sleepers to give them something to eat.
“It’s also a chance to make sure that they are OK and make sure they know where they can go through the day if they need support or housing.”
The early morning run is often the time when Charlie will first come across people who have just found themselves on the streets.
She says: “The most important things that we do are the kind of stuff you might otherwise take for granted – we get them a hot drink, a shower and something to eat.
“The first thing we do is check they are OK. If we don’t recognise them we introduce ourselves and explain what services they can access.
“If someone has just spent their first night on the street it isn’t reasonable to try and get them to fill out a housing assessment there and then, so we try and take care of their basic needs first.
“From there we help people with as much or as little as they need – and it is guided by them and what they want.
“We spend as many times as we need to with them, explaining various services to them and we offer support to get them to the housing office.”
Out on the streets every day, Charlie says she has noticed that the number of new arrivals on our city’s streets is going up – but that she and her team are ready to deal with it.
“The numbers of rough sleepers have increased in Cardiff, alongside almost every other city in the UK,” she says. “Our team numbers have increased in numbers to deal with that, so we are developing what we do to meet the needs.”
After the breakfast run, the bulk of the day is spent meeting homeless people and trying to support them in any way they can.
“Off the back of the breakfast run we might have agreed to meet people, it might be to take them to the doctor or help them with a housing assessment or with their benefits,” Charlie explained.
“They might come to visit us – we share our building with housing officers and we can help give them a bit of extra support with that if they need it. “Whatever is needed really.” Much of Charlie’s day is spent talking to rough sleepers and trying to develop the relationships that might help convince them to get help.
She says: “Obviously housing issues are there with everybody we come across – but after that the issues can vary a lot.
“Some people don’t have many issues, and they might just need a little bit of support to point them in the right direction.
“Other people come with complicated and enduring issues – that can be drug, alcohol or mental health issues.
“Often it is a combination of things – which can make it more difficult to help them.”
While they do spend time in the