Not enough emergency accommodation - Soup Kitchen founder responds to people setting up homes in bus shelters

The words of Sunderland Soup Kitchen founder Andrea Bell after photographs have appeared on social media showing people appearing to have set up temporary homes at some of the city’s bus shelters.

A bus shelter on Chester Road, close to Sunderland Royal Hospital, showed a bed, chest of drawers with what appear to be toiletries, washing line with clothes hung up to dry, and a makeshift carpet made from cardboard.

The second photograph is of a bus shelter on Kayll Road Road which has a mattress and bedding, with the shelter’s seat appearing to be used to store personal belongings.

Photographs taken by the Echo show the sleeping set-up on Kayll Road still remains. Whilst the chest of drawers and washing line in the bus stop on Chester Road appears to have gone, the camp bed and mattress still remains.

Located on High Street West, Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen was set up by Andrea in 2019 to help tackle poverty and hunger in the city. Many of those who visit looking for help are people rough sleeping on the city’s streets.

Andrea said: “The photographs don’t surprise me as there are simply no places left in hostels and and not enough emergency accommodation.

“There also needs to be better out of hours service as after 5pm it’s very difficult for people rough sleeping to get access to emergency accommodation.

“We are definitely seeing an increase in rough sleepers and people needing help. Last night (October 7) we took our mobile service to Park Lane bus station, where we fed 25 people, and to Mowbray Park, where we fed 15 people.”

On the trend of rough sleepers appearing to set up temporary homes in bus shelters, Andrea said: “We speak to people rough sleeping in the city’s parks who say they are victims of being attacked and so I think one of the reasons people may be turning to bus shelters is for extra security - they feel safer.

“Our team actually went out to support one man who had set up home in a bus shelter. He has been homeless for half of his life and said he didn’t want to be housed.

“Sometimes people are given rooms but they have no way of furnishing them or paying for things and it can become a very isolating experience.

“I used to work in providing temporary housing and it was like revolving doors with people being kicked out for causing disruption, eventually leaving them with nowhere to go.

“The reasons why people are sleeping rough can be very complex - each individual case is different.”

In January (2025) Sunderland City Council approved plans for Nap Pads - overnight homeless pods - to be installed at the Salvation Army Swan Lodge Lifehouse in High Street East.

Andrea said: “My understanding is that four of these pods are going to be ready by December. This will help, but it won’t be enough.

“Ultimately we need more emergency accommodation.”

With winter just around the corner, Andrea is concerned about the increasing levels of hardship faced by the city’s rough sleepers.

She said: “Across the country we have an Severe Weather Emergency Protocol in place, which means once temperatures drop to freezing point of zero degrees Celsius then rough sleepers have to be given accommodation, even if in local hotels.

“However temperatures just above this are very cold for people sleeping rough.”

We have contacted Sunderland City Council and Nexus about this situation and will be publishing their responses when they arrive.