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:
Alert the authorities
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 throughStreetLink.
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.
Our charity heroes
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.
Donate warmth
The warm rail. Photo: Connor Creaghan for The Lincolnite
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.
New shelter services
Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Lincoln’s Nomad Centre is supported by YMCA Lincolnshire.
It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and will provide three hot meals a day.
Specialist wraparound 24 hour support will be provided by a range of partners to support the health, wellbeing and individual needs of those accessing the centre.
The new Centre will provide 20 individual en-suite rooms to remove barriers to engagement and provide dignity and the privacy required for a restful night’s sleep.
The new Centre’s name was chosen in tribute of the former efforts of the founders and volunteers involved in establishing the original Nomad Trust, 20 years ago.
The Nomad Trust can be contacted on 01522 504589 (Night 01522 504588) or [email protected]
An ongoing battle
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.
Spotted an error? Please notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
A pair of anti-vaxxers have decided to temporarily stop sharing conspiracy theories on Facebook and stage a protest at a roundabout in Lincoln instead.
The duo were spotted on the Riseholme roundabout on the A15 on Friday afternoon, armed with misinformation signs that appear to suggest England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has an “evil agenda”.
The protest signs appeared to be against child vaccinations, which suggests that the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation were against young people being jabbed, despite a statement in July saying the Pfizer dose had been authorised for use in people aged 12 and over.
They seem to be at loggerheads with Lincolnshire’s own Jonathan Van-Tam, none other than England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, who urged people this week to “trust professionals, not Instagram” as fake propaganda posted on social media is being attributed to vaccine hesitancy.
Another sign held up spouts rhetoric about heart problems from the COVID-19 vaccine, while a third notice shows children with masks on and reads: “Is this the future we want for our kids?”
For reference, in case you cannot make it to the Lincolnshire Showground for your vaccination, there will be a free shuttle bus service to take you to and from the jab site starting next week. Read more here.
Up to 86% of adults in Lincolnshire are double-jabbed, and over 25% of 12-15-year-olds.
A special lights show celebrating Lincolnshire’s plants will take place at Boultham Park on Saturday.
The Lincspirational Lightshow will start at 5.30pm on October 23 after the original event was postponed earlier this month due to the weather forecast.
The free show is the final of event of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts’ LoveLincsPlants project.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations and music inspired by nature from Sinfonia Viva. During the event the 30 artworks created by the public will be projected onto a large screen.
There will also be an opportunity to bid on the 130 artworks submitted as part of the exhibition. They will be available via an online action, with the 30 winning pieces starting at £40.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations, and more. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
The money raised from the sale of the artworks will help fund nature’s recovery in Lincolnshire. It will also help the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust create wildflower rich habitats across the county.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Labour Group will call on the Conservative-led authority to rethink its policy of turning off street lights in built-up areas overnight.
The present situation, introduced in 2016, means that most street lights in Lincolnshire are turned off at midnight, as the council said in March this year that lighting has “no impact” on night-time crime levels.
This statement came after a petition signed by over 5,000 people demanded that street lights were kept on overnight following the death of Sarah Everard in London this year.
The response to Sarah Everard’s death was one of concern for women’s safety, to which the council responded by saying “women’s safety is about much more than street lights.”
A memorial for Sarah Everard in Lincoln on university campus. | Photo: The Lincolnite
More than half of Lincolnshire’s street lights were turned off in 2016 as the council looked to save £1.7 million, and despite the petition and concerns raised, just one parish council asked for lights to be switched back on in 12 months, according to the county’s highways chief.
Now Kev Clarke, Labour County Councillor for Boultham Division in Lincoln and member of Lincolnshire County Council Highways Scrutiny Committee, will be raising the issue at the next meeting on Monday, October 25.
He will be calling for a review of LCC’s street lighting policy, and asking for the council to consider the possibility of keeping the lights on overnight.
Councillor Clarke argues: “After recent sad events – attacks on females – a lot of people feel unsafe and anxious when walking home at night when the county is plunged into darkness at midnight.
“Lincoln is being promoted as a university city with young people leaving home for the first time and moving to Lincoln to study here and gain a first class education. Wonder if the parents were told that lights go off, if so they may look at other locations for their children.
“To boost our local economy we want to attract visitors to Lincoln to visit not only as day–trippers, but to stay over for longer periods to enjoy the benefits of the city and county – one of which is not the turning off of the lights.
“Labour County Councillors are not alone in this plea to Lincolnshire County Council to review the current street lighting policy particularly in Lincoln before it’s too late. Students at the University of Lincoln also want to see changes to the current policy.”
Whatsapp
