Caritas is taking urgent action in an attempt to help people sleeping rough by launching the project and called on the community to help identify a small site where the pods can be placed.
Charity chairman Graham Merfield said the appeal was in addition to its plans to import 24 modular homes to a permanent site.
‘Since launching our modular community project last September, we’ve been contacted throughout the winter by people sleeping rough or sleeping in cars. Typically the contact was made because they were at the point of desperation,’ he said.
‘While still progressing with our modular project, this practical initiative aims to provide short-term emergency accommodation for those with no alternative.
‘Our aim is to bring two pods in and trial it for six months and, if necessary, we’ll consider bringing in more pods and finding another location if the need is for more than two.’
Mr Merfield said the new initiative offered a simple but life-changing response for those with nowhere safe to sleep and with a corporate sponsor in place they just needed a site to locate them.
‘Somewhere close to St Peter Port or the Bridge would be preferable. Being close to Trinity Square where you’ve got lots of support services available would be perfect,’ he said.
‘We only need a small amount of space. It’s essentially two car parking spaces, and some of them in the UK have been sited in car parks. So think garden shed – because of the size and the fact that they’re not connected to utilities, we don’t believe that they need planning based on information from the property experts on our board.’
He added that the charity was open to conversations with both public and private landowners, and even short-term use would make a real difference.
Pods would be managed by part-time support person
The sleeping pods are designed by UK charity Amazing Grace Spaces and have already been used in cities like Sheffield to provide secure, warm shelter for people with no other housing options. Each pod includes solar panels, lighting, a phone charging point, and a chemical toilet.
Once installed Mr Merfield said the pods would be managed by a part-time support person.
‘We’ve done quite a lot of work in terms of putting outline documents together to manage the pods and rules and regulations. We’ve been supported on this by Amazing Grace Spaces who run some pods themselves, but they’ve also supplied over 35 of them to other charities in the UK.’
The pods would be entered by a key code, supplied by the support worker who would then check in from time to time and help the user with support services to move on.
‘When we learnt about them, we imagined people would be there for two or three nights, and that would be the ideal. However, what Amazing Grace Spaces has told us is that they’ve had people for up to six weeks as they have not had anywhere else to go, but they are very simple and basic and really, they’re designed for one to seven nights.
The pods take about four to six weeks to build, and Mr Merfield said the charity’s aim was to have them in place by the summer.
‘Then we can learn how to manage them ahead of the winter, when we think there will be an even greater need.’
For more information visit www.caritas.org.gg. To learn more about the pod design, visit Amazing Grace Spaces or watch this video by Salvation Army Sheffield.
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