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Night Shelter

WE ARE CLOSED FOR THE SUMMER
The night shelter is currently closed for the summer and will re-open in the first week of September. There are several reasons for closing down in summer. a) There is not very many people accessing the night shelter in summer. b) Our volunteers are very few and will appreciate a summer break. c) Most of our volunteers will be taking summer breaks anyway, leaving us a lot thinner on volunteers.
If you know someone sleeping rough, please refer them to Assist Helpdesk at the Wednesday drop in, in Victoria Hall.

Assist together with a church in Sheffield operate an emmergency night shelter where people can sleep for the night. The shelter is open at 10:00pm and closes at 8:00am the next morning. People who come to the shelter are those who have been assessed by Assist for drug and alcohol abuse. The night shelter is made possible by ordinary people who volunteer to sleep over one night a week at the night shelter. We unfortunately do not have the capacity to deal with alcohol problems, substance use, or severe mental illnesses. Clients with these problems will unfortunately be turned down.

Our clients are primarily destitute asylum seekers, both men and women. We have, on occasions, had women with babies accessing our night shelter; unfortunately, we do not encourage it because there are suitable avenues of help available to this client group.

How can I get help if sleeping rough?

Assist operates a help desk at Victoria Hall Methodist church every Wednesday between 2.00pm and 4.00pm. You can come to these drop-in sessions and our friendly volunteers will be there to help. Other organisations (NRC, IAS, CAB's) wishing to refer clients to us can download and fill in our referral form . Please note, we are a small charity that relies on donations, we therefore advise against raising your clients expectations too high. Although we will strive to do our best for everyone, our resources are extremely limited.

Volunteering?

We are looking for volunteers for the night shelter who can spend at least 30 minutes of their time between 10:00pm and 10:30pm talking and making tea for the clients and making them feel welcome. We also want to hear from you if you can spare one night a week to sleep at the shelter with the clients. For security reasons, it is important that a volunteer or more spends the night with clients. Ring the Assist office (0114 275 4960) if you are interested.

Are the asylum seekers breaking the law?

These clients are often here because, after the Home Office threw out their asylum claims, the Home Office withdrew all support previously given (including accommodation) but did not initiate removal procedures. Although they can be removed from the country at any time, we don't see that their presence in this country is breaking the law, since they made themselves known to the authorities in the first place.