Hot weather has led to a 'higher demand' for services, says Worcestershire homeless charity
It's as temperatures are expected to rise again across both counties over the next few days
The chief executive of a Worcestershire homeless charity has said it has seen the warm weather this summer have a "quite significant" impact in areas such as the number of those needing to use their facilities to escape it and stay cool.
It's as temperatures are set to rise again in the county and Herefordshire over the next few days, with a UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) amber heat health alert for the West Midlands in place from 9am today (11 August).
Drought status was also declared by the Environment Agency at the end of last month after the region had previously been in spell of prolonged dry weather, with a number of heatwaves also being recorded so far this year.
Maggs Day Centre opened its doors in Worcester back in 1985 and has provided support for those who are homeless across the county since, expanding to Malvern and Redditch in recent years.
The charity's recently appointed new chief executive, Jon Perry, said the warmer weather had made both their day centres and its clothing project busy, and they've been working to make sure support is there for people during this heat.
"The effects on service users are clear and profound, we often talk about the cold weather but obviously the hot weather can be just as detrimental to their wellbeing," he said.
"The effect on services is that we have higher demand, a higher demand for support, we also put an extra pressure on ourselves to go out and engage people, make sure they're okay, make sure they've got fluids, make sure they've got sunblock, those kinds of things.
"I think the impact we've seen on our day centre for example, just in order for people to find shade in the daytime, is quite significant, the numbers on the hottest days have been really huge and that puts an extra pressure on our resources obviously."
He added that they are going out "as much as they can" to take supplies to people, and that donations such as clothing were crucial in helping people cope with the current conditions.