Emergency Services Help The Homeless As Winter Bites
Fire stations in Manchester open their doors to homeless people as the temperature drops below freezing.
Common areas have been turned into temporary shelters in two emergency services centres to help house more rough sleepers in the city during the sub-zero conditions. Manchester Central and Ashton stations have converted areas in their buildings into living spaces that will be run by care workers, reported the Manchester Evening News.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham called on community leaders, including police and housing officials, to take “immediate” action over the crisis. “This is a clear example of all agencies in Greater Manchester pulling together to help support some of the most vulnerable people in our city region. Whilst most of us are enjoying the festive season, for those who have no choice but to sleep on the streets it is a lonely, dangerous, and potentially life-threatening time.”
County fire service spokesman Tony Hunter said that it was a natural step for the emergency service to help out. “For a number of years now GMFRS has been championing all of its fire stations as community assets and opening its doors to members of the public so it is a natural step for the service to support the ongoing homelessness work in the city,” he said.
“The community rooms that are being used as part of this initiative are heated and have hot and cold water and toilet facilities. “The rooms are separate from the operational areas of the stations and the initiative is supported by partners who will be at the station to facilitate people using the building, which allows firefighters to continue to do their jobs and respond to incidents in the usual way.”
The initiative is part of a wider plan to tackle homelessness in the city over Christmas, with calls also made to use empty student rooms over the holiday season for rough sleepers. It comes as more than 300,000 are now living on the streets across Britain — equivalent to a city the size of Newcastle — after the number of people who lost their home in the past year soared, the Shelter charity said.
