TEMPORARY winter accommodation for homeless people could return at a new location if councillors heed the recommendations of a new report into a pilot scheme that lasted from January to mid-March this year.

Around 50 volunteers spent 1,850 hours working with clients in the old Carfax building, tending to their needs, taking them on group outings, and helping them reintegrate into society.

The time these volunteers spent working for free at the facility was worth a whopping £17,575.

The report, to be discussed in detail at tomorrow’s cabinet meeting, praised the work of the volunteers, the efforts of several Swindon homeless charities and the positive outcomes achieved for most rough sleepers taken in by the scheme.

It said: “The goodwill of the volunteers from across the Swindon community was overwhelming. The genuine desire to make a difference was evident and there was probably a lot more activities we could have used the volunteers for, including extending the project’s opening hours to include some day time activities.”

The original idea was to have up to 14 rough sleepers in the facility, but this was deemed too much for the limited staff and volunteers, so the number was reduced to 12.

According to the review, this was a good thing, as “the reduced number of guests created a positive, more homely environment where the guests supported one another and relationships were built between guests and between guests and staff and volunteers.”

At the end of the 11-week scheme, eight people were housed in their own accommodation and none of those have returned to the streets.

Two are now in work and others are volunteering regularly, though “some challenges remain concerning a number of the former guests, specifically around rent payments and behaviour.”

A new location for the temporary accommodation will have to be found for the next provision as the old Carfax building has been demolished.

According to the review, the quick turnaround from last year’s provision being approved to the first rough sleeper entering the Carfax building made recruiting enough people to run the project safely a big challenge.

It suggested that a four-month lead-in period to the next scheme would be preferable, which means that work could begin on setting up the winter 2018/2019 temporary housing provision within the next few weeks.

Last year’s project cost £42,000, including building refurbishment and compliance work and staff costs. The next is expected to cost £60,000, which will be paid for using government funding.

An extra £30,000 has also been allocated for another provision in the 2019/2020 financial year.

This funding is part of a total of £194,000 which has been given by the MHCLG for the council to spend on reducing rough sleeping in the town before March 2019.

This funding will also be used to launch initiatives such as a Housing First model in Swindon, which the temporary winter housing provision’s guests can use for help after the scheme ends.