Help for people sleeping rough

We work closely with our partner agencies to understand and meet the needs of rough sleepers in Eastbourne and Lewes district.

This page provides information for anyone who is at risk of or experiencing rough sleeping and anyone who knows or works with those who are.

We also have information on homelessness and help for people facing homelessness on this website.

What to do if you are concerned about someone rough sleeping

StreetLink is a nationwide service that enables members of the public to connect people sleeping rough with the local services that can support them. You can report concerns about rough sleepers at any time to Streetlink via their website. They also have a smartphone app you can download to make reporting quicker.

Report concerns about someone sleeping rough via Streetlink

Reporting will automatically trigger an alert to outreach services to check on the welfare of the person rough sleeping and offer them support and advice.

What to do in an emergency

If someone is unwell or distressed please telephone 999.

Do not put yourself in danger or approach someone acting strangely, even to help the person.

Rough sleepers outreach service

This service is funded by the Rough Sleeping Initiative. It carries out proactive outreach work, generally between 4am and 7am.

The service:

Identifies people who are rough sleeping
Helps rough sleepers to connect with local services and support
Supports people to reconnect with their home authority if appropriate

Additional engagement sessions are undertaken throughout the week, with targeted interventions supported by a dedicated team of multi-disciplinary specialists.

Lewes District and Eastbourne Borough Council services for rough sleepers

If you are sleeping rough you can make an appointment with our Specialist Advisor for Rough Sleepers at Lewes District Council or Eastbourne Borough Council.

Find our offices

Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP)

The council delivers a Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) in-line with national guidance from Homeless Link.

The protocol has two key aims:

To ensure that every effort is made to engage with individuals during the extreme weather period so that they can access appropriate services, and
To ensure that no one dies on the streets due to extreme weather.

There is no single definition of severe weather - any conditions that increase the risk of harm to people sleeping rough can be classed as severe. This includes extreme cold, wind, snow, rain and heat.

SWEP will be activated in Lewes district and Eastbourne during severe weather conditions and will be published on our website. We will also inform relevant local services when SWEP is activated.

We will provide accommodation for anyone who is sleeping rough when the temperature falls below zero for just one night, rather than observing national guidance which states accommodation only needs to be provided when the temperature falls for three nights or more.

Our team goes out and about providing accommodation to people sleeping rough and letting them know about the support that is available.

The accommodation is usually in a local church hall and those who wish to access the service should make contact with us as soon as possible. If you are sleeping rough yourself or have concerns for anyone who is sleeping rough and do not have internet access or cannot get to the council offices, then please telephone us.

During normal working hours, please contact us using these details:

Contact details during working hours

Outside of office hours

For out of hours assistance, Eastbourne residents call 01323 644422 and Lewes residents call 01273 471600.

Rough Sleepers Initiative

Hastings Borough Council and Eastbourne Borough Council received funding from 1 October 2018 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to work with partners to:

Improve the accessibility of services to the most entrenched rough sleepers
Provide access to support services
Provide access to temporary accommodation

Access to long term housing solutions

The Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) works with the most complex cases across the two boroughs. Rough sleepers will be assessed, with those who have the most complex multiple needs being prioritised for the programme. This allows intensive assessment and support work to be undertaken by the multi-disciplinary team and our statutory service partners to break the cycle of rough sleeping.

The RSI is a holistic service and includes:

A 12 bed Assessment Unit in St Leonards-on-Sea
Support staff based at day centres in both towns (the Salvation Army in Eastbourne, and the Seaview Project in Hastings)
Outreach and Street Engagement sessions, which allows members of the team to provide specialist targeted support

The project will have 20 individual flats across both areas where ongoing housing and tenancy support will be provided by dedicated workers.

Additional emergency units are being developed, and when ready will allow individuals to be placed immediately and to receive appropriate support.

The RSI has a dedicated team of multi-disciplinary specialists. They work across all aspects of the project and support clients throughout their accommodation pathway. The team includes:

A psychiatric nurse
Two medical nurses
A social worker
A housing specialist
A substance misuse specialist

Referrals from the project can be made through the council's Housing Needs team. To access the RSI in the Eastbourne area, please contact the Housing Needs team.

Eastbourne rough sleepers meeting

This monthly meeting is run by the Rough Sleeping Initiative. Services involved in the delivery of the initiative attend the meetings to ensure:

The needs of rough sleepers are assessed
The risk of harm is minimised
That action plans are discussed and agreed
That progress is monitored between agencies

Other local services for rough sleepers

There are local services available to people who are rough sleeping or 'sofa-surfing'.

Details about these services on our Food provision in Eastbourne factsheet.

Free food provision around Eastbourne Town Centre (PDF, 156 KB)

Salvation Army - daycentre

Showers available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am - midday
Clothes washing facilities
Hot drinks and snacks available for a small fee
Advice and help, drop-ins, signposting, computers and phones available

Open Monday to Thursday from 10am to 4pm and on Fridays from 8.30am to 4pm.

Address: 149 Langney Road, Rebourne Centre, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN22 8AG

Email: eastbourne@salvationarmy.org.uk or telephone: 01323 417149

Matthew 25 - daycentre

Providing food, clothing and basic necessities
Breakfast provided daily with lunch provided on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

Open Monday to Friday from 8am to 3pm

Address: Matthew 25 Mission, Brodie Hall, Seaside, Eastbourne, BN22 7NN.

Telephone: 01323 726960

Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter

The Eastbourne Winter Night Shelter is provided by several Eastbourne churches cooperating together and offers supervised overnight accommodation to homeless and vulnerable people who would otherwise be rough sleeping between December and February.

All guests must be interviewed prior to admission.

For referrals and assessment interviews telephone 07932 407730. Interviews are by appointment only.

Email: wns@kingdomwaytrust.org

Kingdom Way Trust

Kingdom Way Trust oversee the Winter Night Shelter on behalf of local churches. They also run three other projects:

The Bridge
Hope into Action
Hope Woodwork.

The Bridge and Hope into Action are accommodation schemes. Hope Woodwork is a carpentry and furniture making programme. The service is not exclusively for rough sleepers and works with individuals on the gradual development of skills for work.

For more information visit kingdomwaytrust.org