November 25, 2022 8.00 pm This story is over 24 months old

Scunthorpe charity aims to vaccinate the homeless

They are trying to vaccinate ‘one of the hardest groups to reach’

A local charity in Scunthorpe is aiming to vaccinate ‘one of the hardest groups of the reach’ – the homeless.

The Forge Project on Cottage Beck Road in the North Lincolnshire town offers support to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

It is a place where people can congregate for help, advice, a warm drink and meal, as well as being offered a vaccination as well.

Practice Pharmacist Joanna Domzal-Jamroz told BBC Look North: “Homeless people, they are at very high risk of contracting illnesses, they very often have very poorly outcomes, health outcomes, associated with hospitalisation, and so it is important for us to give them that opportunity and actually come out to them.

“We all need that place of rest when we are unwell and they have nowhere to go, so it’s so important for us to catch it before it happens.”

A man called Ray found himself homeless after a relationship split and lived in a tent for a month.

He said: “If I was in my tent now and I was ill then I’d be screwed. It was pretty bad anyway in the rain for that month, it was cold, it was horrible, so I’ve come in here basically to save my life.”

MyLocal Lincolnshire is the new home of The Lincolnite. Download the app now