How you can help
Homeless people in Lincoln are facing some of the coldest nights of the year so far. As winter sets in, there are a few things you can do to help vulnerable people in the city.
A number of agencies and charities provide support and signposting services to the homeless when plummeting temperatures pose a fatal risk.
A record 726 homeless people died in England and Wales in 2018, up by a fifth on the year before.
There are ways to prevent this:
People in Lincoln city centre pass by homeless people every day and often feel helpless, or don’t know what they can do to make a difference.
One of the easiest ways to alert local authorities if you’re concerned about someone in your area is through StreetLink.
You can notify local outreach teams using this service if you have seen someone over 18 sleeping rough. The details you provide are sent to the team operating in your area to help find them and connect them to support.
If a person is thought to be under 18, it’s important that Lincolnshire Police are called instead on 101. If a person appears to be in immediate danger or needs urgent care, people should call 999 immediately.
Lincolnshire’s district councils have all signed up to a severe weather emergency protocol. This is implemented when nighttime temperatures are predicted to be zero degrees Celsius or below for three consecutive nights and is extended to all, regardless of eligibility.
When triggered, councils must actively seek to identify all those sleeping rough and provide them with emergency accommodation.
Staff and volunteers from charities like P3 go out in the early hours of the morning to respond to referrals, as well as visiting known rough sleeping sites.
They are commissioned by Lincolnshire County Council and also partner with multiple organisations in the city to access care like mental health, drug and alcohol services.
If you see someone sleeping rough, you can alert the street outreach team by emailing [email protected] or contact them on freephone 0808 281 0280.
Last year, as the Beast from the East battered the county, the Lincolnshire P3 group of just 10 people managed to reach between 60 and 70 people and find them accommodation.
The team found one man trying to take shelter under a bridge in the city centre. Photo: P3
There are a number of other voluntary homelessness groups in the city, like Let Them Eat Cake.
This charity takes hot food, hot and cold drinks, first aid and support directly out to those sleeping rough. You can contact them about how you can help on their Facebook page here.
The warm rail. Photo: Connor Creaghan for The Lincolnite
The Compassionate Lincoln group has brought back its warm rail in the city centre this winter.
The rail, located at St Mary’s Guildhall, on the corner of Sibthorpe Street, is designed to get the homeless through the winter with coats, jumpers, scarves, hats, gloves and sleeping bags.
It’s open for donations from 9.30pm to 1.30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays over the next few months.
Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Lincoln’s Nomad Centre is supported by YMCA Lincolnshire.
The new £1.6 million shelter, which opened last month on St Rumbold’s Street, is open to residents for the first time next week.
It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and will provide three hot meals a day.
The Nomad Trust can be contacted on 01522 504589 (Night 01522 504588) or [email protected]
Homelessness has been on the increase for many years in Lincoln. Figures released last year showed the number of applications for help with homelessness more than doubled in the city since 2010.
A 59.5% rise was recorded across all Lincolnshire authorities in total, and the highest homelessness figure was recorded in South Kesteven District Council.
Figures are expected to be higher still, since data did not include rough sleepers not seeking assistance from a local council.
The anxieties and reluctance some have in dealing with their local council was echoed by the City of Lincoln Council’s Intervention team. They said the help they offer is not always taken.
“There’s a bed for everyone” said the charity Hope Lincoln, who stopped their outreach service in December last year because they felt it enabled people to make bad choices.
If that’s true, it’s more important than ever to make sure vulnerable people are not given up on and left outside in the cold.
A dramatic video shows a car engulfed in flames in the car park at Lincoln County Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
An on-call crew from Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue attended the scene on Greetwell Road shortly before 5pm on Tuesday, April 13.
The crew used one hose reel to extinguish the fire and fortunately no casualties were reported.
The car is probably a write-off. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Dramatic pictures from the scene show the severe damage that was caused to the front of the car.
Fall in county infections but a Boston spike
There have been 50 new coronavirus cases and three COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday — compared to 58 cases and no deaths this time last week.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 26 new cases in Lincolnshire, 19 in North Lincolnshire and five in North East Lincolnshire.
On Tuesday, three deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, none in North East Lincolnshire and -1 in North Lincolnshire. Fluctuations in data are usually due to some deaths in those areas being reallocated to other regions across the UK or a miscount. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England has reported two new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust hospitals.
On Tuesday, national cases increased by 2,472 to 4,375,814, while deaths rose by 23 to 127,123.
In local news, people aged over 45 can now book their COVID vaccinations on the NHS website after the government reached its target of offering a first dose to the nine most vulnerable groups.
There were recently some technical difficulties for people accessing the NHS website, but vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the issues have been fixed – book a vaccine online here and find out if you are eligible.
Over the weekend, Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate has fallen, with a spike in Boston only.
Similarly, the England average has also seen a drop in infections, but still remains nearly half Greater Lincolnshire’s rates.
Lincoln has dropped by more than half over the weekend and now has one of the smallest rates in the UK, with just 9.1 per 100,000 of the population infected with COVID-19.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s COVID-19 infection rates up to April 12:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Apr 5 to Apr 12. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
In national news, Boris Johnson has warned that the reduction in coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths “has not been achieved” by the rollout of COVID vaccines.
The prime minister, speaking the day after the latest easing of lockdown restrictions, instead said it was the national shutdown that had been “overwhelmingly important” in driving down COVID rates.
England is giving out its first doses of the Moderna jab, the third COVID-19 vaccine in the nation’s rollout.
It will be available at 21 sites, included the Madejski Stadium in Reading and the Sheffield Arena.
Along with the Pfizer jab, it offers an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for under-30s, after concerns about a possible link to very rare blood clots.
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
58,772 cases (up 50)
2,184 deaths (up three)
of which 1,302 hospital deaths (up two)
4,375,814 UK cases, 127,123 deaths
There will be another Kill The Bill protest in Lincoln next week, rallying against a new government bill that diminishes protesting rights.
Protests have been rife across the country since the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was first discussed, with scenes turning violent in Bristol.
Over two hundred people peacefully took part in the city’s first march at Speakers’ Corner on April 3, including Extinction Rebellion activists and Socialist and Labour supporters.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Now, after a post started doing the rounds on social media, another protest has apparently been scheduled for 2pm on Monday, April 17 at the same location on Lincoln High Street, as part of a national day of action.
A poster promoting a second event has been shared across social media platforms.
Protests are lawful once again after the government eased lockdown restrictions on March 29, but organisers are required to submit a risk assessment prior to any event.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Organisers of the last protest were in close communication with police to make the event safe, and The Lincolnite has asked Lincolnshire Police if they have been made aware of another protest, but are yet to receive a reply.
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