Homelessness is often an invisible problem in rural areas like North Wiltshire

In common with other rural areas, rough sleepers are rarely seen in North Wiltshire. People finding themselves without a roof, perhaps because of redundancy or a relationship breakdown, are often taken in by friends and allowed to sleep on the floor or sofa - ‘sofa-surfing’, rather than remain on the streets. They are the ‘Hidden Homeless’ of North Wiltshire.

For many, living in Wiltshire is the stuff of dreams – a rural idyll - but issues such as single homelessness, rough sleeping and street violence against homeless adults are under-reported and un-researched. At Doorway, we have become increasingly concerned during this year at the frequency of violent attacks on our guests, mainly by gangs of young people, which go un-reported to the police.

There is no hostel or night shelter in North Wiltshire and particularly in the winter, people sleep in the Chippenham underground car park and in outbuildings. 41% of those willing to give information at their first visit were sleeping rough and up to 11 are sleeping outdoors in or near Chippenham on any single night. There are no statistics for the rest of North Wiltshire.

Doorway is a successful partnership between CVS North Wiltshire and The Salvation Army, Chippenham Corps. We run a drop-in day centre in Chippenham, twice a week for single adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness; often because they have complex problems, such as mental health issues, debt, substance use and poor life skills, which are likely to affect their ability to acquire or sustain a tenancy.

Doorway is the only specialist service for this client group in North Wilts and is funded from a variety of charitable, church and statutory sources, as well as donations from individuals. Most of our staff are volunteers who bring a wide variety of skills and life experiences to the task.

Since we opened our doors in December 2003, we have helped over 270 homeless people on the path to re-building their lives by providing a hot meal, laundry facilities, information, one to one support, structured activities and signposting to specialist support and advice agencies. Our emphasis is on one to one support and meaningful activities to help guests learn new skills which will enable them to ‘open new doors’ and move on in their lives.

article added 23rd October 2007