The “Beast from the East” is about to hit the UK. Storms are now given names by the Met office, however this is a cold front – but a seriously cold front, with predictions of minus 10 – so the press have invented their own name.

As I look out from my window in Croydon there is already snow on the ground. And if there is snow in Croydon, it is going to be bad.

The winter homeless shelters are reported to being reopened for rough sleepers. Which will come as a surprise to those who did not know they had already closed after Christmas.

It is a reminder that whilst winter is not officially over until the end of February the winter homeless shelters have been closed for a while. Homeless campaigners should run adverts like the dog charities saying “ A roof over his head is not just for Christmas”.

We get outraged when people turn pets out onto the street, but this is the cumulative effect of what happens to rough sleepers. While the charities are stretched they will not turn people away, but the problems are more complex. Getting some rough sleepers re-housed isn’t just about putting a roof over their head but finding solutions to many of the complex needs that disrupt attempts to get them settled.

Next week, at their annual conference, the homeless health charity Pathway has a top line up of speakers mapping out solutions to tackling rough sleeping. One stream is attracting particular attention – the understanding of brain injury and all the degrees of brain injury that can reduce a persons capacity to cope or to settle.

But in the next few days it will be the old fashioned danger of cold and exposure that faces thousands of rough sleepers – and we are talking thousands, with over 2000 in London alone according to Crisis.

Within weeks local authorities will have a new duty to find suitable housing for the homeless, it is a big challenge. The former Housing Minister Rt Hon John Healey MP, Labour spokesperson on Housing will be giving a talk about how councils and other public authorities can tackle these issues at the Pathway conference.

Weeks like this in which we face extreme weather conditions remind us that homelessness is not just tragic and shameful, but also deadly. Next year if the “winter” shelters could stay open till the sun shines in May it would be a start and give more time to work with the hardest end of the homeless challenge.

In the meantime Pathway, Crisis, St Mungos and all the others doing good work will have their work cut out while the temperatures plummet.

Take action now get your local authority, hospital trust, housing association or university briefed by the best – book to attend next weeks Homeless & Inclusion Health Conference or by a licence to watch the conference online live and on demand.

Rethinking Homelessness
7/8 March, Mary Ward Hall, London.
Book your delegate place
Can’t attend? Book to receive online on-demand access

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