City providing beds for rough sleepers
As temperatures drop below freezing, Exeter City Council is making extra emergency accommodation available to rough sleepers.
The council's severe weather emergency protocol (SWEP) went live on Wednesday and is expected to run at least until Monday 4 January. It means no one needs to sleep outdoors in the city. Anyone who knows of, or sees someone, they believe to be rough sleeping overnight can contact the Exeter Assertive Homeless Outreach team (AHOT) on 01392 284287.
The Council and its partner agencies have been working over the last few months to ensure local rough sleepers have already been accommodated before the weather deteriorated. Numbers on the streets have more than halved since November.
Fifteen people are known to be regularly rough sleeping in and around the city. The first few of these individuals were booked into accommodation on Wednesday. As a result of the ongoing pandemic, sleeping spaces in communal settings have been closed, limiting emergency accommodation options. Most placements are in local B&Bs, and people taken in have to keep to the rules.
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