Night Watch Helping Rough Sleepers Stay Warm And Safe As The Colder Weather Commences

As we hit the half-way mark of Autumn, the weather is already turning, nights are getting colder, and the needs of Swindon’s rough sleepers become more acute as they continue to face long stays in Swindon’s car parks. Threshold’s Swindon warehouse is stocked with warm bedding and essential supplies that will quickly deplete over the coming months, maybe sooner.

Jason Biggs, Head of Psychological Therapies and Assertive Outreach at Threshold said: “Despite the official estimates from Swindon Borough Council indicating a very low number of rough sleepers, as little as three persons per month, month on month it has been claimed, the reality is disappointingly very, very different.

"There are many times more than that low number of people sleeping rough in Swindon each week, let alone across a month, which is why I conceived of launching a responsive Night Watch outreach service, being present for rough sleepers when other agencies are long finished, and I worked with our CDO and Nationwide who were keen to make this outreach service possible in Swindon."

Jason added: “Threshold won’t become complicit by remaining silent to support the myth the Council circulates about decreasing and consistently low numbers of rough sleepers, that seems like just political spin but in any event has no basis in fact.

"People are suffering, being left to sleep rough in tents, sleep in the town centre car parks or in their vehicles, as is increasingly becoming common. Numbers are rising and we are set at this rate for a bumper number of rough sleepers coming up to Christmas. Last week on just one night our team assisted seven rough sleepers in the town centre."

Threshold conduct a homeless outreach service several nights each week, which operates through the evening and early hours of the morning, providing support, professional advice, bedding, beverages, and assessment for fast-track accommodation options.

The charity acquired a welfare van to use for the service, it allows rough sleepers to sit in a mobile office, complete with microwave oven and hand washing facilities. The Night Watch van provides a space for people to leave their tents or the car park and talk to staff in private, out of the cold.

The charity receives no Local Authority funding and is able to provide its Night Watch outreach service though the generous donations of corporate and private sponsors as well as through the significant funding provided by a Nationwide Community Grant covering both 2023 and 2024.

Threshold will assist all rough sleepers, including those categorised by Swindon Borough Council as being ‘non-priority’ or as having ‘no local connection’.

Jason said: “Many people who travel from another area in the UK to Swindon are typically fleeing very adverse circumstances or perhaps have complex psychiatric illness and to think of such vulnerable persons, almost all of whom are UK citizens, being left without assistance in Swindon is just too horrendous and cannot be ignored.

"Only last week we accommodated, from the car park to one of our rooms, a gentleman with extremely limited sight and very complex care needs. He had been sleeping rough in Swindon since August, with not a single night of emergency accommodation provided by the Council.

"He is not alone in being in that position, many others have been rough sleeping for long periods of time with no hope in sight for them and only limited contact, they say, with the Council’s part-time outreach workers.

"We hope that our Night Watch service will be of great benefit to the homeless, particularly over winter, and that it will also act to hold Swindon Borough Council to account for the growing number of persons left to sleep rough after approaching the Local Authority to assist them, people who would otherwise be overlooked and made invisible in Council statistics if not for Threshold."

If you see or know of a rough sleeper in Swindon, be sure to note their location and any identifying features then alert Threshold via email, 24/7 at: [email protected]

A spokesperson for Swindon Borough Council said: “We say that on any given night rough sleeper numbers remain low, our most recent count recorded three people.

“We also have an outreach team and are acutely aware of where there are any incidents of people sleeping out. We always encourage members of the public to report any rough sleepers and this can be done via our website.

“We continue to work well with our voluntary sector partners and are always willing to discuss details of any cases with Threshold.”