Warming Up The Homeless' new centre receives makeover from housebuilder

According to recent data, 271,000 people are now recorded as homeless in England, including 123,000 children, with a fifth of homeless charities operating at reduced services in response to cost-of-living pressures.

In Eastbourne, local housebuilder Barratt David Wilson Homes has partnered with Warming Up The Homeless to help provide the furnishings required for the charity’s new homeless Centre, opening in Hastings.

Founded in 2015 by a small group of friends in Hastings, Warming Up The Homeless has set out to help rough sleepers/street homeless with the provision of basic items such as sleeping bags as well as signposting people to other services for addiction and health. Their work extends across Hastings, St Leonards, Eastbourne and Bexhill, with their new Centre focusing on providing warm meals and wider support for the community’s most vulnerable.

Trudy Hampton, CEO of Warming Up The Homeless, said: “Up until May, we were operating solely from our Bexhill centre, providing over 1,000 meals every week to local people sleeping rough as well as tackling ‘hidden homelessness’. Unfortunately, the crisis is only increasing, hence the need for our new Centre in Hastings which we recently opened. The team will be providing food parcels, advice and a warm place to rest and, thanks to Barratt David Wilson Homes, we have been able to furnish the Centre for everyone to enjoy.”

Phil Hurring, Marketing Manager at Barratt David Wilson Southern Counties, commented: “These current statistics are incredibly worrying and as a responsible housebuilder we believe it is important to us to extend help to those without a home particularly in the communities where we build. We are pleased our donation could help support the opening of the new Hastings Centre which will enable the expansion of the crucial work Warming Up The Homeless are doing every day across East Sussex.”