As we emerge from the pandemic, the UK Government have released new guidance for providers of night shelters. This guide replaces the COVID-19 Operating Principles for Night Shelters. We hope that this guide offers a common starting place for all community and faith led organisations who are supporting rough sleepers. The work that your organisations undertook during the pandemic was commendable and materially contributed to lives saved.
Good Practice Guidance 2022/23
The past three years have seen a wave of transformation in the way that non-commissioned services support rough sleepers. We have seen the impact that secure, single-room accommodation can have on how rough sleepers feel about their time spent in emergency shelters and their chances of moving on to secure long-term accommodation. Similarly, the benefits of partnership working between non-commissioned services and local authorities have been manifold. As we move beyond a state of emergency response, the way we support rough sleepers will adapt further and community and faith groups will be a core part of this.
Operating Principles for Night Shelters – full guidance
This guidance is intended to be used in conjunction with other broader guidance documents, including High Risk Settings, People with symptoms of a respiratory infection including COVID-19 and Living safely with respiratory infections, including COVID-19 and the Government’s new Toolkit for COVID 19 testing in homelessness, domestic abuse refuge and respite room settings.
Staying informed & partnership working
The work of Winter Night Shelters could not be done without the local partnerships that each forms, but beyond the local there is a wealth of information, support and opportunities. We’ve provided this list as an attempt to link you into mailing lists, networks and resource hubs that we think are invaluable no matter where you are in the country.
- Subscribe to the Housing Justice Winter Night Shelter Network mailing list.
- Subscribe to Homeless Link’s email news alerts.
- The Small Charities Coalition operates a helpdesk and membership offer for small charities that is ideal for many Night Shelter projects.
- The Street Support Network is an independent organisation providing a source of information on homelessness in a variety of locations, check if they operate near you.
- Groundswell work with, and for, people experiencing homelessness to develop resources and support tailored to them, any number of their resources could be useful for guests of night shelters.
- Bookmark NCVOs content for charities and voluntary organisations to help them respond to the challenges of COVID-19.
Specific to COVID-19:
- Join the FutureNHS Collaboration Platform to access their ‘Homeless Health COVID-19 Response Future NHS’ workspace. This is an online, collaborative workspace for colleagues working across health and care who are involved in the homeless health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To join, email FutureNHS.
- Join Homeless Link’s ‘COVID-19 Homelessness Response Online Network’ – existing members can login here, or you can get access by emailing Homeless Link.
- Doctors of the World are constantly developing a variety of health resources, translated into dozens of languages.
- Bookmark the live list of funders responding to Covid-19 compiled by the Street Support Network.
If you are in London:
- Compassionate Communities.
- London Network of Nurses and Midwives (LNNM) Homelessness Group.
- London Destitution Forum.
Operating Principles 2020/21
The first version of the Operating Principles was published on 13th October 2020.
How We Got Here
For older updates and briefings, you can view our ‘How we got here‘ page.
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