Ten extra emergency beds have been made available for people who are homeless in Galway city over this current spell of cold weather.
The beds are part of Galway City’s Winter Initiative programme for men and women who are homeless who would otherwise be sleeping rough and be exposed to the extreme cold.
The Winter Initiative is funded by the Galway City Council and the HSE, and jointly operated by COPE Galway and Galway Simon Community. The project will run until mid-April 2010.
According to Martin O’Connor of COPE, the Winter Initiative provides night time accommodation for up to 10 people who would otherwise “sleep rough in Galway city over the winter months”.
The Winter Initiative works closely with other services for homeless people in Galway including the Galway City Council Housing Department, COPE Galway Fairgreen Hostel, and Galway Simon Community Day Centre.
People who are rough sleeping are required to make contact through either of these services and are then directed to a designated collection point in the city centre for 9.30pm each night where a mini bus collects and transports them to the accommodation unit where they are provided with a meal and a bed for the night.
The project is staffed overnight and work is undertaken with individual people to assist and support them to move out of rough sleeping.
