Cold snap putting 'huge pressure' on Cork Simon: Numbers doubled from Covid times

Cork Simon has said its services are experiencing huge demand due to the current cold snap.

Communications Manager Paul Sheehan said that the emergency shelter was already packed before the cold weather kicked in and has in this past week seen 80 people staying each night.

During the pandemic, there were about 40 people staying at the shelter each night.

“It’s putting huge pressure on right across the system, but everyone is rising to the challenge,” he said.

Speaking to The Echo, Mr Sheehan said that the most important thing during the cold snap is checking in on people on the streets, making sure they’re okay, that they don’t need medical attention and that they know there is space for them at the shelter if they want to come indoors.

“We make sure that space is available for everybody,” he said.

Cork Simon’s outreach team are currently checking in on people around the city several times each day, making sure any of their needs are met.

“I was out with our outreach team last Friday early in the morning. We met a few people who were just waking up and I think that sense of relief that somebody was checking in on them was palpable.

“Just to know that if the worst does come to the worst that there is somebody to depend on so that’s a small bit of comfort to them.” Mr Sheehan said that the outreach team works out of its day service which usually opens at 9am in the morning for rough sleepers to come in and get a shower or breakfast, see the health team if they need to, meet a support worker if they need to or to get a change of clothes or dry out their sleeping bag.

He said that Cork has been “really good” at coming together to help those most in need, particularly at times like these.

“Everybody really does pull together and there’s a really good sense of we’re all in this together and we can all rise to the challenge together. I think cork is just the right-sized city for it to work,” he said.