IBC have made the decision to activate SWEP from 17th January 2020 until further notice.

Notting Hill Genesis will make available 2 additional ‘severe weather’ emergency beds for service users at some of our help centres.

The severe weather beds are in additional to the 2 Emergency Direct Access Beds available daily, the various rough sleeping beds available this winter through Rough Sleeper Initiative funding and the Ipswich Winter Night Shelter. Rough sleepers are at particular risk in severe weather, please encourage all to access the services on offer.

Rough sleeping is the most visible form of homelessness. People who sleep rough often use shop doorways, bus shelters, carparks, stairwells and other public places. They also sleep rough in areas away from the public, bedding down out of sight and moving from place to place.

The dangers they face in public areas can have a detrimental effect on their physical and mental health, making rebuilding their lives and engaging with support services harder and leaving the streets is a lifelong battle.

Tackling rough sleeping together

In Ipswich, we take rough sleeping very seriously and together with our partners, we work extremely hard throughout the year to prevent and reduce it. Our partners:

• Anglia Care Trust
• Ipswich Housing Action Group
• Notting Hill Genesis
• Selig (Winter night shelter)
• Norfolk Suffolk Foundation Trust

Together we provide short term emergency accommodation and support for people sleeping rough if they have a local connection, working to prevent them returning to the streets. Where possible we will support anyone without a local connection to reconnect with their local area.

A new Homelessness and Rough Sleepers Strategy is underway, building on the Governments Rough Sleepers Strategy published in August 2018.

The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy sets out Ipswich Borough Council’s vision for an Ipswich where those who are homeless or threatened with homelessness receive the advice, support and assistance they need to access accommodation they can call home. Read the strategy here.

What we offer:

• Emergency bed spaces
• Temporary (short-term) bed spaces
• Severe weather provision bed spaces
• Support for drug and alcohol issues
• Specialised mental health support
• Housing advice and support through the Council’s Housing Options teams

In addition to our funded partners, we also work closely with other relevant agencies in and around Ipswich to maximise the support available to people sleeping rough. These include Turning Point, Job Centre +, Probation, Town Pastors, Street Rangers, Health Outreach and a range of accommodation providers.

What you can do

If you see anyone, who you believe is sleeping rough, please visit the Street Link Website and complete to referral form. Alternatively you can email roughsleeping.enquiries@ipswich.gov.uk to inform us of anyone you believe are rough sleeping.