Vulnerable Worthing Hotel Residents Offered Alternative Accommodation

Sunday, 28 June 2020 07:51

By Iona Stewart-Richardson @IslandIona

More than 50 vulnerable people who were told to leave the Chatsworth Hotel in Worthing on Thursday have been offered alternative accommodation.

That's according to homeless charity Turning Tides - who have absorbed 16 of the homeless men and women.

The charity said they have contacted Government authorities to ensure the situation Chatsworth residents experienced, does not occur anywhere else.

A spokesperson for the charity said:

'We can confirm that all of the homeless men and women who were staying in the Chatsworth Hotel in Worthing, West Sussex, have now been offered alternative accommodation. We have managed to absorb 16 of the 54 Chatsworth residents into our own projects, which places our services and staff under continued and significant pressure.

'Three important points remain. Firstly, many of the alternative housing arrangements found for the Chatsworth residents are temporary. These arrangements may not be available beyond the end of July. We welcome the Government's announcement earlier this week that more funds will be released to support homeless men and women beyond the 'Everyone In' initiative. But we will watch closely to see how far that money stretches across the country and, in particular, if any of those funds enable meaningful changes in the lives of the local men and women we support.

'Secondly, our statement released earlier this week described how the 'Everyone In' policy marked a historic moment. When local authorities, charities and hotels pulled together to bring everyone indoors this amounted to an unprecedented coalition of the willing between the public, charity and commercial sectors. To discover that such vision, cooperation and compassion can be so rapidly upended by the decision of an insurer remains profoundly troubling. It is our understanding the insurers were made aware of the consequences of their decision.

'Finally - and most importantly - the fear and distress experienced by the Chatsworth residents this last week has been enormous. In many cases, this has happened to people whose lives were already affected by severe trauma. We remain in a pandemic and our collective efforts this week may well have saved lives. However, rebuilding lives is a different matter - and that process requires stability and commitment.'