Night shelter celebrates first anniversary and thanks volunteers for their 7,000 hours of service

The borough council says the shelter, based in St Andrews Road, has been used every night since opening and has put a roof over the heads of more than 160 men.

And 100 of them have now been moved on into permanent, settled accommodation.

Councillor Stephen Hibbert, cabinet member for housing and wellbeing, said: “We’ve always said that the night shelter will provide people with a lot more than just somewhere to sleep for the night.

“I would like to thank everyone who has supported the night shelter during the past year, and I am really excited about the training and employment partnership that is being developed between the night shelter and Goodwill Solutions. It will provide homeless people with even more opportunities to rebuild their lives.”

Hundreds of volunteers have helped decorate, equip and staff the building. In its first year, 92 volunteers donated a total of more than 7,000 hours of their time to cover the evening, overnight and morning shifts.

Building on the success of its first year, the night shelter is now working with Goodwill Solutions - a community interest company, based in Moulton Park - to provide everyone who stays at the night shelter with the help, encouragement and support they need in order to access training and employment opportunities.