Housing Worthing’s homeless people in hotels ‘just a plaster that’s going to fall off’

Dozens of rough sleepers were told they must leave the Chatsworth Hotel today (June 25) after the hotel’s insurers told them they were no longer covered.

More than 50 people had to be rehomed at short notice, but Khristina McCormack, founder of Worthing Soup Kitchen, said over 80 people had been staying there at one point.

She said putting homeless people up in hotels was ‘unviable’ and called for more permanent solutions.

“I really appreciate the work the council and Turning Tides have done, but we need more options,” she said.

“You can’t keep just keep people on that conveyor belt. It needs permanent solutions, not just a plaster that is going to fall off.”

Khristina pointed to some examples of rough sleepers being housed in B&Bs for ten years while they waited to be housed.

She said money should be used to purchase vacant buildings for accommodation, such as the vast numbers of properties and churches sitting empty across Sussex.

Worthing could implement a ‘guardian angels’ scheme, she suggested, whereby rough sleepers stay in buildings and look after them as custodians.

Even camp sites or something as simple as port-a-loos would make a huge difference, she said.

“The problem is the resources not being enough, and that’s right across the country,” said Khristina.

“This is going to be a recurring problem as far as I’m concerned. I’ve seen this myself over the years.”

Homeless charity Turning Tides has launched an emergency appeal as it struggles to cope with homeless demand among the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic.

Adur and Worthing councils has also seen its resources stretched thin, paying £20,000 per week from its own budget to support rough sleepers after Government funding fell short of what was required.

Khristina said the number of local families requesting food parcels had increased dramatically during the pandemic, as well as material items such as shoes or sofas.

Some families were frightened to approach food banks in person, she said, in case they are picked up by social services.

To help support Worthing Soup Kitchen, follow them on Facebook where requests for required items are regularly posted.