Homeless people at crisis point across greater Belfast

The building, located in the Townsend Street area, suffered extensive damage following the incident in July.

Other agencies that provide assistance to people in housing crisis and experiencing homelessness have reported an increase in the number of people availing of their services following the blaze at the Welcome Organisiation hub.

Cllr Paul McCusker is the Programme Coordinator at the People’s Kitchen in Belfast. Formerly St Patrick's Soup Kitchen, the charity’s stated mission is to provide a safe and welcoming environment.

Speaking to Northern Ireland World, Mr McCusker explained: “The fire at the Welcome Organisation has had a massive impact on homeless services.

"There’s a lack of emergency accommodation and many people have been displaced. Over recent months, we’ve been seeing increased numbers of people coming to the People’s Kitchen. Many have no access to basic facilities, including showers.

"We started serving breakfast a number of months ago and there were around 20 people coming. Now there are 70 to 80 people most mornings.

"It’s being left to other groups like ourselves to pick up the pieces. There has been very little response from the Housing Executive and I believe they’re dragging their feet on the issue.

"It’s been left to the community and voluntary sector. What’s being done by the Housing Executive isn’t working and a different approach is needed.

"Transporting people around in taxis doesn’t solve the problem. Children are being moved away from the school they’re attending and people are moving away from their doctors and other services. The current approach is making the situation worse.”

Mr McCusker addressed the issue of ‘hidden homelessness,’ adding: “I’ve been helping around six people over recent weeks who have been sleeping in their cars. There are people sleeping under bridges. People are experiencing a lot of misery and some very difficult circumstances.

"The number of people who are dying while they are waiting for a home is also increasing.

"We need to learn from other countries across Europe and see what has been a success in other places. I’ve never seen demand like this for our services.

"There are a lot more younger people on the streets and a lot more females. What we’re seeing is a lot more people injecting cocaine. Many people on the street are suffering from addiction and poor mental health.

"I’d say it’s like a pinball machine at present, with homeless people being passed around multiple agencies, but their situation isn’t improving.

"As the cold nights set in, I’d appeal for donations of sleeping bags, warm clothes, toiletries and non-perishable food to be dropped off at our site at 1 Antrim Road. We rely on people’s generosity to help support those in need.”

The Simon Community, which was established in 1971, has said there is a “severe lack of housing, with people stuck in temporary accommodation”.

A spokesperson for the charity, which hopes to “create a society where everyone has a place to call home” added that there has been a 12 per cent increase in the number of calls to its freephone support line in just 12 months and that there over 17,000 homeless people across Belfast (58,000 across NI).

Commenting on the issue, Erene Williamson, The Salvation Army’s Homeless Services Ireland Lead stated: “As you walk through Belfast, there are signs of increased numbers sleeping rough/begging and the number of individuals in non-standard accommodation is increasing.

"There’s a shortfall in social housing, which restricts move on from TSA services. There are a couple of factors affecting the building of new and additional social housing units – budget cuts, restricting the level of funding available and lack of infrastructure to support additional housing units.

"The Salvation Army homeless services are not direct access, all clients are referred into our services via the Housing Executive, and we’ll only get referrals when we inform of vacancies. We’re looking at additional capacity in Centenary House, with the offer of a recliner to sleep on for one night only, food and wash facilities, this would be part of the SWEP porvision as the temperatures are dipping.”

The Housing Executive had hoped to start work on approximately 2,000 social homes across the country this year, however, only around 600 will be started.

In response, Housing Executive spokesperson said: “Ultimately, the provision of newbuild social housing, at scale, is the key to overcoming the current issues face by our housing system and we’ll continue to work with our partners in government and the social housing sector to bring this to fruition.

“This year, we had hoped that around 2,000 new social homes would be started across Northern Ireland. However, due to budgetary constraints it is likely only around 600 social houses will be started.

“We recently allocated our first new build homes in two decades, providing ultra-modern, energy efficient homes, built to the Passivhaus standard as part of a pilot project and we view this as the approach to be followed in the years ahead.”

The use of illegal drugs is evident in a number of locations across Belfast, with homeless charities seeing many people presenting at their services with addiction issues.

A PSNI spokesperson explained: “Police are committed to removing dangerous drugs from our streets and arresting those who sell such drugs.

"We’ll continue working with partners to come up with more innovative long-term solutions to help build safer communities and to protect vulnerable people by taking a strong partnership approach with key stakeholders with an aim to support recovery, resettlement and social inclusion for those in need of support.

“Police would ask if anyone has any information about suspected drug dealing in their area to call 101. Alternatively, information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800555111.”