Pandemic has given homeless man place to live
MIKE THOMAS has spent many years of his life sleeping on the streets of South Wales.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, the 50-year-old former steelworker spent some time living among tents in a car park sheltered by a flyover outside Newport bus station alongside numerous other homeless people.
Mike is a friendly and kindhearted man who has long been popular with support workers who meet him, but his efforts to find a safe, secure and permanent place to live have always been unsuccessful.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Welsh Government provided councils with £10m in emergency funding to bring all rough sleepers indoors. Then in August, ministers announced a further £40m to “end homelessness” in Wales and ensure all those people are rehoused permanently.
It has meant that for the first time in years, Mike could rely on having a roof over his head in the form of a temporary housing pod provided by Newport City Council for several months during the initial lockdown.
And in September, Mike finally moved into his new permanent flat near his parents in Newport.
“I have got to be fair, those pods were brilliant, but you couldn’t have visitors,” Mike said.
“I’m looking forward to having my parents coming around so I can cook them a Christmas dinner instead of them cooking it for me.”
In February of this year, the Welsh Government’s national rough sleeper count indicated there were 405 homeless people living on the streets of Wales, an increase of 17% on the previous year.
The figures, collected over a two-week period in October 2019, showed the number of rough sleepers in Newport alone had nearly doubled from 23 in 2018 to 42 in 2019.
In response to the unfolding coronavirus pandemic, in March the Welsh Government released £10m emergency funding for beds in hotel rooms, student blocks and B&Bs to shelter those experiencing homelessness.
In August, housing minister Julie James MS announced a further £40m to be used to rehouse all those in governmentfunded shelters and change the nation’s approach to homelessness.
Saima Saddiq is a support worker in the care and support division at social landlord Pobl Group, and has been working with Mike and many other homeless people in Newport to secure permanent and sustainable accommodation during the pandemic.
Saima said she felt the emergency shelter represented a turning point for many of the people she worked with.
“I think the longer [Mike] stayed in temporary accommodation the more he felt he needed his own place.
“He’s very close to his parents. I think he wanted a roof over his head so he could offer them something, like coming over for Christmas dinner.
“I have a lot of people like Mike who say, ‘I’m tired of this street lifestyle, I want somewhere to put my head down’. They have a sense now of what it is like to be in accommodation.”
The Welsh Government published its first set of statistics related to the housing of homeless people during the Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday.
The figures revealed that by the end of August there were a total of 3,566 individuals in government-funded temporary accommodation in Wales.
During the month of August, 476 previously homeless people were moved into suitable long-term accommodation.
But the data also showed that 106 were still known to be sleeping rough across Wales.
Lindsay Cordery-Bruce, CEO of homelessness and rough sleeping charity The Wallich, said more needed to be done to ensure the Welsh Government met its target of ending homelessness in Wales.
“There has been an incredible collective effort by Welsh Government, local authorities and third sector organisations, working in partnership during the pandemic to get everyone inside and safe,” she said.
“But as hotel accommodation closes, and the temporary measures put in place to accommodate people during lockdown end, we are sadly seeing more and more people returning to the streets.
“The work done during Covid-19 was huge, but let us be clear – we haven’t ended homelessness in Wales. The reasons people become homeless in the first place – trauma, mental health, relationship breakdown, poverty – those issues still exist and are in fact even more prevalent due to the pandemic.
“We need to work together as businesses, organisations and communities to tackle these huge inequalities, and Welsh Government needs to act on the recommendations of the Homelessness Action Group and act quickly.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are doing everything we can to prevent people becoming homeless. We have invested £50m across Wales, in addition to £2bn to increase the supply of permanent, affordable housing over the last five years.
“No-one should be without a suitable place to live, especially during the pandemic. It is to the huge credit of local authorities and partners that in the face of continuing pressure so many people are being accommodated, not just in the short term but also in long-term homes.
“We are working with all partners to ensure we are able to continue to meet the needs of everyone who needs a safe place to live and we use this opportunity to help people into long-term stable housing. Our investment this year signals the first big stride towards a shift towards a rapid rehousing approach and ending homelessness in Wales.”