Charity warns of 'disaster' as Birmingham homeless centres close

The closure of two Birmingham homeless centres has caused uncertainty over who will sleep where this winter, as Laurence Griffin, ITV Central Production Journalist reports.

A former rough sleeper has warned people experiencing homelessness in Birmingham could die as two homeless shelters providing over 170 beds combined are closing. Birmingham City Council says it made the decision to close Washington Court - which provides 101 beds - and the William Booth Centre - which provides just over 70 - as part of a plan to change the way homeless people can access support.

Bill West volunteers at Birmingham City Mission which provides food and a warm space for people experiencing homelessness, but has used both centres in the past.

He said: "This is going to be a disaster, if we're losing these hostels.

"I know what's going to happen now, we're just going to have death rates go up through the winter.

"I ended up with nothing and if it wasn't for the Salvation Army and Washington Court I would have been on the streets, and probably would have died on the streets."

Birmingham City Council says it remains committed to ensuring there are enough beds for people who need them, and the closures are a part of a move from large city centre centres to several smaller shelters across the city.

Phil Ansell, Birmingham City Mission Manager, said people affected by the closures are "feeling really quite anxious at the moment.

"They've lived in a place that they felt is safe and warm etc and now they're just feeling as if that maybe is taken away from them and there's a great deal of uncertainty as to their future."

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David Watson, Head of Support at Trident Group, which operated the William Booth Centre said smaller centres are often safer and more supportive environments compared to large city centre homeless shelters. He said: "If you've become homeless, you're struggling, you've got an addiction problem or you've got a mental health issue, the last thing that you want is to be around 100 people who are in just the same boat as you.

"We've had lots of success over the last few years of getting people directly into property and then putting in amazing support around them."

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