Winter homeless shelter was hell, says councillor

A councillor concerned about conditions at a homeless shelter has described the service as "hell" after staying overnight to experience it for herself.

Milly Boylan, who is also a community support worker, said the shelter on Symonds Street in Hereford was unhygienic, bitterly cold, uncaring and dangerous, and featured damp pillows and a faulty heater.

She said she decided to take action and sleep there after homeless people told her about such conditions.

Herefordshire Council, which runs the winter shelter with charity CPP, said it welcomed the feedback. CPP said the account did not reflect standards.

Boylan, 58, director of @theHUB community support centre in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, serves as an Independent on Ross-on-Wye Town Council, but said she was not acting in her capacity as an elected member, and did not represent the city where the shelter was based.

She said she "allowed" shelter workers to think she was homeless, but did not explicitly say she was.

She added that when she attended on 18 January and was shown to a four-bunk women's area, the other three beds were empty, but if four people had arrived in need, "I would have left".

She went on to complete an overnight stay and, critical of what she experienced, later submitted a written report to Herefordshire Council.

Boylan said she found a heater that was not working, an extremely thin sleeping bag, a damp pillow and an unhygienic bathroom with "urine all over the floor".

At midnight, a resident in a nearby homeless pod asked to be let into the main building, saying he was freezing, but was unable to contact staff, she said.

By 05:30 GMT, and unable to sleep even in her coat, she said she tried to warm up by the foyer radiator, but claimed she was deterred by a duty worker.

All users had to leave at 07:30 GMT on a cold and dark Sunday morning with nowhere to go, she added.

Her report said it was an "uncaring and a frankly dangerous place which needs an immediate overhaul before there is a death".

A CPP spokesman said Boylan's remarks did "not reflect our standards, values or the typical experience encountered by those accessing the overnight shelter".

He said: "Our focus is now on engaging with the author to fully understand her observations and concerns, so that we can investigate and respond more fully."

Herefordshire Council said the feedback "will enable us to make further improvements to the shelter and its operation".

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