The £1.5m plan to help community's homelessness

The Trinity Centre in Winchester wants to build 11 bedsits to take homeless people off the streets.

Trinity director Sue McKenna said the scheme could end homelessness in the city.

Ms McKenna said the extension would not be a hostel as each resident would have their own front door.

Homelessness has been increasing in recent years with an increase nationally of 170 per cent since 2010.

In December the Daily Echo reported that Southampton homeless services made 25 more beds available in the city, after figures showed that Southampton City Council spends £5million a year tackling homelessness.

The 11 bedsits would allow Trinity to improve its support for people and help them in the long-term with their complex needs, as well as 24 hours a day.

“It will be a home. The Nightshelter is not a home, its emergency accommodation, well-used and always full up. This will help to solve the housing crisis in Winchester,” said Ms McKenna.

“This could end street homelessness in Winchester. That is a big statement to make. There are 20 people sleeping rough who would have somewhere to go.”

The scheme would fill a gap between the emergency provision at the Nightshelter on Jewry Street and places such as Emmaus at Bar End which offer a permanent home. It would be the first Housing First project in the city. Housing First offers permanent, affordable housing to homeless people, and then provides support and connections.

The plans were due to be shown last night to residents who live near the centre on Durngate Place. Letters have been sent to 300 households.

The aim is to complete the scheme by mid-2020, subject to planning permission. Some £500,000 has already been donated by the Deflog VQ charity bequest, leaving £1m to be found. Applications are being prepared to various organisations.

Deflog VQ Trust was a military charity set up by Brigadier Tom Blyth whose son Ben was a client of both charities and died in 2010 aged 33.