2019/20 Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter
Total potential guests interviewed 71
Total accepted into the shelter 64
Total arrived and admitted 52
Number of exclusions 5
Number of bed nights given 974
Number helped with accommodation 20
Volunteering to date:
Since 1st December 2011, 700 individuals from 40 churches (and some not part of a church) have staffed over 3000 shifts over 823 nights at an average of between 4 and 5 volunteers per shift. This equates to approximately 50,000 volunteer hours.
Previous Years:
2018/19 Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter
Total potential guests interviewed 57
Total accepted into the shelter 54
Total arrived and admitted 48
Number of exclusions 3
Number of bed nights given 802
Number helped with accommodation 14
This season over 274 volunteers from over 33 churches (and some not part of a church) have staffed the 270 shifts plus undertaken others duties for the effective running of the shelter. Their contribution has been over 5000 hours of voluntary time.
2017/18 Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter
Total potential guests interviewed 65
Total accepted into the shelter 59
Total arrived and admitted 41
Number of exclusions 1
Number of bed nights given 955
Number helped with accommodation 20
Number of volunteer hours 5327
2016/17 Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter
Total potential guests interviewed 66
Total accepted into the shelter 60
Total arrived and admitted 52
Number of exclusions 9
Number of bed nights given 1015
Number helped with accommodation 20
Number of volunteer hours 6000
2015/16 Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter
Total interviewed 69
Total male interviewed 62
Total female interviewed 7
Total admitted 59
Total male admitted 53
Total female admitted 6
Total accommodated 22
Total male accommodated 19
Total female accommodated 3
Total excluded 9
Total male excluded 9
Total female excluded 0
Total admitted no show 13
Total male admitted no show 12
Total female admitted no show 1
Total refused admission 6
Total male refused admission 6
Total female refused admission 0
Total accommodated before admission 4
Total male accommodated before admission 4
Total female accommodated before admission 0
We provided a total of 999 bed nights during the period of the 91 nights which we were open
The 273 shifts were staffed by 231 volunteers at an average of 3.89 volunteers per shift (1062 volunteer shifts in total)
2014/15 Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter
Total number of guests was 45 (40 men and 5 women and includes one married couple)
We provided a total of 830 bed nights during the period of the 90 nights which we were open
21 Guests were housed or returned to partners during the period the shelter was open
The 270 shifts were staffed by 229 volunteers at an average of 3.98 volunteers per shift (1075 volunteer shifts in total)
2013/14 Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter
The night shelter operated in 8 venues.
Number of guests booked in was 34 (26 men and 8 women)
Number of guests who were short stay and moved on was 6
Number of guests who were found accommodation during the shelter was 22
Number of guests who were still homeless when we closed was 6
We provided a total of 624 bed nights during the period of the 90 nights which we were open
Note: This was lower than last year because fortunately there are fewer street homeless people in Eastbourne, as more people have been provided with accommodation, and the weather was not so cold.
The 270 shifts were staffed by 242 volunteers (from 25 churches) at an average of 4.28 volunteers per shift (1156 volunteer shifts in total).
2012/13 Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter
Number of guests booked in was 39 (31 men and 8 women)
Number of guests who were helped with finding accommodation was 19
Number of guests who we provided emergency or short stay accommodation for and then moved on was 6
Number of guests who decided to return to sleeping rough due to alcohol addiction was 4
Number of guests who declined an offer of accommodation when we closed was 2
Number of guests who were still homeless when we closed was 6
We provided a total of 1002 bed nights during the period of the 90 nights which we were open
The 270 shifts were staffed by 245 volunteers at an average of 4.31 volunteers per shift (1164 volunteer shifts in total)
2011/12 Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter Guests Summary
Number of guests booked in was 36
Number of guests who were found accommodation during the shelter was 16
Number of guests who were still homeless when we closed was 2
We provided a total of 998 bed nights during the period of the 97 nights which we were open
The 291 shifts were staffed by 233 volunteers at an average of 4042 volunteers per shift (1287 volunteer shifts in total)
The bigger picture…
Total numbers of homeless people in England are very difficult to calculate because of the transient nature of the homeless population and because the various forms of homelessness are counted in different, but sometimes overlapping ways. Homeless Link provide a good overview of figures and the difficulties of gathering accurate statistics here.
Homeless Link have more than 60 members in the South East including homelessness hostels, day centres and local authorities. Every year they ask their members and others in the homelessness sector to tell them what’s happening in their area. The Homeless Link Survey of Needs and Provision (SNAP) – March 2012 – shows
- there are 23 fewer projects and 420 fewer bed spaces since 2011
- only 14% of projects ever have empty beds
- 42% of projects had decreased funding in 2011/12
- the most common impact of funding cuts is decreased back office staff
- the single biggest issue in the area is a lack of housing for individuals to move on to
