A count undertaken in November found that 12 individuals were recorded as sleeping on our streets, compared to 21 at the same time last year, the lowest for six years.

The reduction is largely attributable to a number of initiatives Warwick District Council has put in place this year to support the homeless, as part of its £3million commitment to tackle rough sleeping. These include the opening of William Wallsgrove House in September as a direct access hostel, which now provides round the clock accommodation, on-site support and referrals for around 20 people all the year round, and the provision of further accommodation for the Coventry Cyrenians to support people with complex needs.

The Rough Sleeping initiative has also included the appointment of specialist Council support staff and has allowed P3 Charity to bring in additional outreach workers across Warwick and Stratford districts.

Warwick District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Housing and Property Services, Councillor Peter Phillips commented; “This is an encouraging start and testament to the hard work of the “rough sleeping” team. These latest figures clearly demonstrate that we are moving in the right direction with our aim to eliminate street homelessness in the district. However, the work of our ‘rough sleeping’ team continues with more people still to help, in not just providing a temporary fix for those sleeping on the streets, but in providing these vulnerable people with the specialist support and care they need to help them turn their lives around.“

On Wednesday 12 December from 12 noon to 3pm at Leamington Town Hall ,Warwick District Council’s Rough Sleeping team and Rangers will be joined by many local services including representatives from P3, Warwickshire Police, Tesco, Salvation Army, The Cyrenians and Helping Hands for a special event to share information about rough sleeping, the local services that are available and to introduce an alternative giving campaign, to encourage people to help those begging on the streets, by donating to support organisations rather than giving direct.