Surrey homeless charity warns of the devastating effects of cold and wet weather
The Hope Hub in Surrey Heath say they see the severe health risks the cold weather poses to those who are sleeping rough
As the cold January weather hits the whole of the UK, a Surrey charity say they see the 'horrible' effects it has on those sleeping rough
The Hope Hub operates in Surrey Heath and provides aid to those who need it in the local area, whether that's immediate shelter, or long term support to enable people to look after themselves.
CEO Mags Mercer, told us that during the winter months, she sees it becoming drastically more dangerous for those sleeping rough
"It's always worse in the cold and the really wet, because when it's really wet, you just can't dry off.
I mean, we all know we've all got drenched, particularly if you're a dog owner we've got the ability just to sort of come in and get a fresh pair of clothes and we're all sorted, but they don't and all their stuff gets ruined
So what happens is your physical health deteriorates very considerably when you're homeless. Your teeth, your hair, nails first, and then you know other underlying issues start arising. It's very horrible"
Mags also told us that she thinks people can underestimate the scale of the homeless problem in the area, due to how Surrey Heath is percieved
"Absolutely the case. And in fact the multiple the indices of multiple deprivations just been re-released and it shows that you know the pockets of deprivation within Surrey Heath borough.
Number one in Surrey for alcoholism. Another one is very high up on a certain substance. So there are areas of multiple deprivation that exist within Surrey Heath, albeit some of it is lovely."
Christmas at the Hope Hub
Mags also told us however of the charity's success over the Christmas period. Over the festive period, the charity hosted three festive dinners where they were able to give out over 100 Christmas meals as well as give out 100 presents.
"Christmas at the Hope Hub was amazing. Thanks so much to all the community that got that got behind our work and care for those on the fringes of society.
We were able to serve 100 Christmas meals over three events and we did lots of games and things like that, you know, bingo and various other things and lucky dip and things like that.
We were able to give out 100 incredible gift packs. In a gift pack, if they were homeless, they got a useful gift. So like a pair of shoes, a warm coat, a new backpack. And then in addition, they all got obviously toiletries, socks, hats.
Mags told us hundreds of people in the local area contributed to the Christmas dinner.
Whether that was pubs, community groups, businesses as well as the team of volunteers.