Somerset Council’s Severe Weather Emergency Provision is active to support rough sleepers over Christmas and New Year.
During this period of cold weather, the council is seeking to provide emergency accommodation for those sleeping rough to prevent harm or death due to the severe weather.
The SWEP response is used by many local authorities when there is a forecast of 0 degrees or below.
Outreach teams are currently contacting rough sleepers in Somerset to encourage them to take up offer of emergency accommodation and will offer additional support for anyone continuing to sleep rough during SWEP.
SWEP in Somerset has two aims:
- To ensure no one dies on the streets due to severe weather.
- To ensure every effort is made to engage individuals with support.
A spokesperson for the council said: “Please help to spread the message that suitable accommodation may be available for rough sleepers during the severe weather over this Christmas and New Year season.
“Please check if you can access the service by calling 0300 123 22 24 during office hours and 0300 123 23 27 out of office hours as early as possible.”
If you’re concerned that someone is rough sleeping in Somerset during the severe weather, please visit Street Link to refer them, so they can get access to suitable accommodation: https://thestreetlink.org.uk/.
When SWEP is active, important information can be found on a temporary webpage here: www.somerset.gov.uk/swep.
You can also learn more about rough sleeping support on the council’s Help for people who are rough sleeping page.