Edward Poland, co-founder at Hire Space is calling on fellow London venues to help on an initiative involving St Mungo’s, the charity that supports vulnerable homeless men and women.
Hire Space is aiming to open up space for rough sleepers and expand the charity’s Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) centres and pop-up hubs, to support efforts to combat homelessness during the winter season in the capital.
St Mungo’s supports more than 2,700 people on any given night through its programmes.
When asked about SWEP’s primary focus, Dan Olney, assistant director of Pan London Street Homelessness and Outreach Services at St Mungo’s, says it is “to save lives of rough sleepers during extreme weather”.
When local authority bed spaces fill up, outreach teams can refer rough sleepers into the St Mungo’s pan-London SWEP which can cater for 80 rough sleepers per night.
St Mungo’s has three main assessment centres that can be used for SWEP. However, when these fill to capacity, there is a need to find other space.
Hire Space has offered its office space in Bermondsey for SWEP and says other venues can participate in the pop-up hub system for between 48 and 72 hours. They would need to be able to offer overnight sleeping facilities that are also suitable for offering space for daytime assessment from health workers.
St Mungo’s says its team can help transform such spaces into a safe, temporary home to London’s rough sleepers. Once a rough sleeper is on St Mungo’s radar, their chances of leaving the homeless cycle and eventually gaining a permanent home become much higher, says Poland. “Vocational training programmes pipelined to employers and their recruitment demands are just some of the many personalised support projects St Mungo’s offer,” adds Olney.
Can you help? Venues who register their interest will receive a complimentary Hire Space marketing campaign in 2018. Any questions and interests about hosting pop-up hubs and accommodating SWEP, please contact Hire Space on 0207 099 2512 or riemy@hirespace.com
