£37k lifeline for Blackpool homeless shelter

Streetlife, which operates an emergency night shelter and a day centre, has received £37,500 from national charity Homeless Link to cover overheads and staffing costs.

The shelter, next to St John's Church in St John's Square, reopened on November 1 after being closed since March due to lockdown.

In order to meet Covid safety requirements Streetlife, which assists 18 to 25-year-olds, has only been able to offer four of its eight beds at the shelter.

Chief executive Coun Jane Hugo said: "We have been very busy even though we are only working with a small number of young people because of Covid-19.

"We have been described as a small charity doing a big job, and we have been able to make a huge difference to the vulnerable young people that are needing our help.

"Our four beds are full and we have other young people wanting to access them.

"It is frustrating but understandable that we have to keep four beds closed due to ensure we are Covid safe."

She added Streetlife was working on a daily basis with the council's Housing Options teams to ensure support was there for those young people it could not accommodate.

The £37,500 grant means young people can go from the shelter to the day centre in Buchanan Street where individual support includes counselling and life skills learning.

Coun Hugo added: "We can now provide a safe warm space all day, every day, to the end of March 2021. We are also able to provide a hot lunch every day.

"As well as dealing with their immediate situations, the young people are accessing the gym and getting involved in photography and creative writing projects.

"We have been blown away by everyone's generosity and have been able to give away 50 Christmas food hampers to young people who have used our services recently."

Gift packages were also provided for 50 young people, while volunteers have been providing hot meals and a Christmas dinner.

Anyone wanting to help can contact [email protected]

Streetlife is also fundraising to provide a pool table, TV and games console in its day centre.

Anyone wanting to donate to this can do so by paypal to [email protected] or www.justgiving.com/streetlife

Volunteers are also required to help with the night shelter.

They work in pairs doing a sleep-in shift from 6.15pm to 9am, with their own room. Anyone interested should email [email protected]