Your first port of call should be the outreach team, OxSPOT in Oxford and Connection Support outside the city. If you’re sleeping rough, OxSPOT or Connection Support will assess you and help you find the accommodation and support you need.
During severe weather or every time the temperature falls to zero degrees Celsius or below (Met Office forecast) Oxford City Council activates a Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) in order to provide emergency shelter overnight.
To avoid the risk of Covid-19 transmission, people were offered their own room for the night last winter. The council intends to deliver SWEP on the same basis again, following positive feedback from people using the service.
KEY INFORMATION
- SWEP will be triggered by the city council when the temperature is forecast to fall to zero degrees Celsius, or below
- Accommodation will be provided in the form of individual rooms across two sites
- 30 rooms have been identified which is more than the current number of rough sleepers
- People who need access to SWEP who are not identified during the day will be able to present at O’Hanlon House between 11pm and midnight in order to be allocated a room
- A local connection to Oxford is NOT required to access SWEP, and nor are other eligibility requirements associated with accessing other housing services
- Accommodation will be managed by St Mungo’s and Homeless Oxfordshire
- St Mungo’s will co-ordinate access to SWEP allocating individuals to accommodation during the day
- Individuals accessing SWEP will be made aware of their responsibilities for minimising transmission of coronavirus
- St Mungo’s will ensure that all clients who access SWEP (if not already known) are offered a full assessment of their needs and support in order to be offered longer term solutions to their homelessness
People outside Oxford who want a SWEP bed during freezing winter weather should contact Connection Support or their own council in the first instance:
Cherwell District Council - 01295 753 751 or 01295 221 531 out of hours
South Oxfordshire District Council - 01235 422 452 or 01235 422 410 out of hours
Vale of White Horse District Council - 01235 422 452 or 01235 422 420 out of hours
West Oxfordshire District Council - 01993 861 000 or 0151 343 2945 out of hours
SWEP is now CLOSED.