July 31, 2018 5.07 pm This story is over 79 months old

YMCA Lincolnshire helping tackle Lincoln drug issue

“It is a happy place here”

YMCA Lincolnshire is determined to help tackle the ongoing drugs problem in Lincoln.

As previously reported, the charity is also trying to raise funds to create The Lincoln Nomad Centre by April 2019.

A change of use application is being submitted over the next few weeks to turn their former gym on St Rumbold’s Street into a day centre and the charity is just over halfway to its £1.2million target.

The former YMCA Gym on St Rumbold’s Street in Lincoln could be a new day centre by April 2019. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

YMCA Lincolnshire services

The charity has supported accommodation on St Rumbold’s Street (the Hostel), Monks Road (the Night Shelter) and eight other properties across the City of Lincoln totalling 132 rooms and 21 additional beds in the Night Shelter.

The properties are a mixture of self-contained rooms and house shares with communal bathrooms and lounges.

In 2017 the charity’s emergency night shelter provided for 266 people who found themselves homeless.

Last year 87% of residents were male and 13% female, with a total of 16% under the age of 25.

Housing Services Manager at YMCA Lincolnshire Dean Bell told The Lincolnite: “First we want to give them a roof over their head, somewhere safe and secure and warm, that’s the prime, we get them off the street and assist them in that process.

“But we don’t have psychological and mental health services in house, not on a large scale, so we would then signpost to somewhere like Addaction or their local GP or gateway services within the city, which inevitably are very very slow because they are under massive demand.”

Residents’ views

A 40-year-old man who lives at YMCA Lincolnshire and has been there for seven months, praised the conditions and the staff.

He also wished to remain anonymous and he told The Lincolnite: “It is a happy place here and the staff are brilliant.

“Without this place half of us would be out on the streets. I really do enjoy it here, it is the best of the hostels I’ve been in and I’ve been in various all over the country.”

Anyone wishing to volunteer with YMCA Lincolnshire, ranging from donation sorting to food service, should contact Volunteer Co-ordinator Rachal Lilley at [email protected].