A guest came in one Sunday night. He was asking for help because he had been sleeping rough in Neath and his tent got burnt down. He was picked up by police and dropped here to receive help. He had a full time job and was unable to access services during the day out of fear of missing work. As it was a Sunday night we were limited in what we could do; temperatures outside were dropping to -4 that night and we were really concerned for him. We kitted him out with a sleeping bag, tent, thick coat and bag. He had a hot meal, charged his phone and stayed all evening until we closed. We took his number and promised we would get more information for him the following day. We also advised him of where he could sleep in the city centre and that the rough sleeper intervention team would be out in the morning.
We emailed the local authority immediately with his situation in the hope that they would reply first thing in the morning; and they did. The good news was that he was registered in Neath and they were able to contact the correct people to support him. We haven’t seen this man since but we are just glad we were open and available for a short while in his time of need.