Sleep pods ready to be handed out to help rough sleepers in the North East
Cornerstone say they're purpose-built shelters that are better than tents
Last updated 1st May 2025
We are hearing about the benefits of sleep pods across Teesside and County Durham as the number of rough sleepers rise.
Homelessness charity Cornerstone, which have hubs in Hartlepool and Bishop Auckland, say they are purpose-built shelters that are better than tents.
The charity is currently the only sleep pod distributor for the North East and Teesside.
Nicky Morson is from there and said: "I think when the temperatures have obviously got a little bit warmer, we find we get a lot more rain so people haven't got the freezing temperatures but they're now wet and still cold, so they're coming into our hubs again daily to get warm showers, to get the support and this is where these pods are absolutely vital.
"We've just come out of SWEP where the councils make an effort to get everybody off the streets who are verified homeless but unfortuantely when SWEP finishes, those people have to then go out on the streets so we and other organisations have found that we get an influx in rough sleepers who again, have had that time indoors during really dangerous weather and now they're back on the streets.
"The support has had to kick up another gear just to make sure those people are getting the support that they need. A lot of them masively struggle going from that environment of being indoors to being back on the street through no fault of their own, just from the safety aspect of they need to be off with it being such cold weather.
"The sleep pods are lightweight and it gives maximum coverage for anybody to protect them against the weather and it also has an insulated inside which can protect them against if they were ever at risk of a fire.
"If anybody has to have a tent, they feel the need to hide because they're all obviously illuminous colours and things like that so it really restricts the contact that support workers have. With these sleep pods if you have them in the street, they're discreet but it also gives the general public confidence that that person's under support so it reduces the amount of calls that we get to say that that person's rough sleeping."
This man who is a rough sleeper said: "I was basically homeless in a tent and when I woke up my foot was warm, my tent had been sent on fire. I was down at the Marina at the time and they Cornerstone gave me a pod and I was using that for three weeks. It was better than a tent any day of the week. It's colder in a tent than a sleep pod."
Another rough sleeper said: "I slept on benches at the park, couches, pods and I've slept on cardboard at the Civic Centre about two weeks ago. It was freezing with no covers over me or anything. The sleep pods are brilliant. They're insulated and all silver inside. I had two single quilts as well. I was nice and warm."