Agenda item

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Gillian Adamson a resident of Exmouth spoke about homelessness in Exmouth and was pleased to advise that a homeless person she had been helping was now in bed and breakfast.  She raised concerns about the slow response from the council on rough sleepers and homelessness in Exmouth and suggested the council could provide caravans at Maer Road Car Park as a temporary stop gap or to purchase one of the empty hotels to convert into self-contained rooms.  In response to the comment about using empty hotels as temporary accommodation Councillor Wragg, Exmouth Ward Member advised the hotels were needed for holiday accommodation which was needed to help support the local economy.

Ben Reid, a resident of Exmouth spoke about homelessness.  He advised about his 25 year working background that ranged from working in hostels and drop-in centres in Exeter and East Devon.  He referred to a person who had been living on the streets for 3 weeks in Exmouth and said the only support that had been offered to him by the council was a train ticket out of Exmouth.  Ben advised this was unacceptable and as a result had found the person a caravan to stay in and had contacted Exmouth Friends in Need who had been amazing.  Ben was pleased to advise the person had now found employment and was doing well.  Ben raised concerns that there were other homeless people that the council were not helping.  Ben thanked Councillor Millar for all his help and enthusiasm and said with Councillor Millar’s help the homeless will be able to get more help.

Claire Austin, Exmouth Friends in Need Chairperson, had submitted a statement read out on her behalf by the Democratic Services Officer, which stated:

Exmouth Friends In Need (EFIN) was started just under two years ago to help alleviate short term poverty within the community usually caused by a sudden change in an individuals or family’s circumstance. Primarily the main focus was ensuring that people had sufficient food but as time has gone on we now not only focus on this aspect but also provide help with heating and furniture.

There are countless families and individuals in the Exmouth area who do not have the means to properly furnish their homes and EFIN do their very best to help where we can. We also get many indirect referrals from the Council/Housing Department to help those with nothing.  The local community is very good at passing on old furniture but sometimes it is barely fit for purpose and not suitable. Unfortunately we sometimes have to turn down quality furniture as we have no immediate home for it but alas have nowhere to store it. There is of course quite a large second hand furniture market but in these COVID times most of our funding is being spent on food and heating.

We understand that the Council is trying to develop an initiative to address furniture poverty and EFIN would very much welcome such a scheme. Support could come in a number of ways, not just targeted funding but perhaps a small storage area or help with logistics when it comes to moving larger items.

Please contact us if you would like to discuss any of these points further.

The Chair thanks the speakers and advised as part of the homeless strategy the council was looking into setting up a ‘magic garage’ and was working in partnership with other voluntary organisations to get it started.