Corby's homeless left out in the cold this Christmas

A homeless shelter that hoped to be open in time for Christmas has failed to find enough volunteers, leaving rough sleepers out in the cold.
The Dorking Walk hostelThe Dorking Walk hostel
The Dorking Walk hostel

The newly refurbished hostel at Dorking Walk, designed to sleep 16 people, will remain shut until more people come forward to help.

Rushden-based East Northants Community Services (ENCS) announced that they would be unable to open the hostel before Christmas as first hoped.

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Jo Burns, operations manager for ENCS, said: "Unfortunately ENCS has to regrettably announce that although we have received a huge amount support from members of the Corby community, we do not have the sufficient volunteers to open the new year-round homeless shelter before Christmas.

"We were encouraged when we started this journey as we were aware of Corby’s history of supporting previous homeless winter shelters, and we remain positive that we will find the individuals that will enable us to open early in the New Year, and help our homeless on their first step to having sustainable accommodation.

"We are very disappointed by this and understand that some of the community in Corby will be as well.

"We want to thank all those who have already given up their time and supported us in other ways and sincerely hope this will continue. There has been an incredible amount of hard work and time put in by individuals to get us to the point we are.

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"With the assistance of the borough council we have looked into alternative solutions but unfortunately these were not viable. We will be continuing to look at being open in the new year as soon as possible."

At least another 22 people will be needed to enable the hostel to open full time and ENCS will be recruiting people who can volunteer on a long-term basis.

Ms Burns added: "If you or anyone you know could volunteer with us, on a twice a month basis, particularly on an evening or night shift, please email [email protected]."

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