There have been some complaints about the new Worthing Churches Homeless Project in Lyndhurst Road, which was set up in April to help take rough sleepers off the streets and recently a public meeting was held to hear concerns and indeed support from residents.
This is an innovatory partnership project between WCHP, Worthing Council ad Roffey Homes and doesn’t just provide accommodation but crucially offers mental health, financial and education support to get people back on their feet and able to live independently again. There have been some early successes but also concerns about anti-social activity, which more often as not involves people drawn to the area but who are not actually part of the facility.
If this scheme is to succeed and provide a mutual benefit to everyone then residents need to be properly informed and included as they are in many of the other effective WCHP in the town supported by many local people through charity fundraising and over 330 volunteers, including many former clients.
As with a previous facility in the area, Keith Bickers and I (see photo above with Chief Executive of Worthing Churches Homeless Projects John Holmstrom) have again suggested that a proper residents' liaison group is set up so any problems can be nipped in the bud but it also requires more proactive and high-visibility policing, which is why I have reported back on my visit to the local police as well.
We have a problem with homelessness in this country which the Government have acknowledged and have legislated for and this imaginative scheme is one effective sustainable way of dealing with it so we need to get it right so that it works for everyone in Worthing.