Hostel closure 'devastating for homeless people'

The closure of an 18-room hostel in Hampshire will be "devastating" for the area's homeless people, a former resident has said.

The county council decided in 2024 as part of cost-saving cuts it would no longer fund Fareham's Gosport Road hostel, run by the Two Saints charity.

The organisation is also planning to shut the nearby Acton Lodge, which has 10 rooms. Two Saints said both hostels would close on 9 March.

Hampshire County Council said withdrawing funding from the Gosport Road site was "due to severe financial pressures".

The drop-in medical and community support sessions that were run from the Gosport Road hostel will also close.

Fareham and Gosport Borough Councils, which were funding services in the smaller Acton Lodge, have also been contacted for comment.

Kim Wellgreen, a former Two Saints client, said she had been "lucky" to find alternative accommodation.

"There's people not as lucky as me that will have nowhere, that will have nowhere to go," she said.

"It's going to devastating for the people here.

"There's nowhere else for them to be put apart from here."

Caz Whitman has worked at the hostel for two decades and said she was worried about what the closure would mean.

She said: "We're an integral part of that community and it's just a worry, where are our clients going to go?

"Where's someone who wakes up one day and finds themselves in that situation, they haven't got our door to knock. We are really concerned. Deeply concerned."

Janice Hughes, chief executive of Two Saints, said: "Since 2020 we've had around 350 serious incidents. Almost half of those have been ill-health or medical emergency.

"In 23 cases there's been CPR or naloxone, which is a life-saving drug.

"So 23 people have had their lives saved, because otherwise they'd have been out on the street or on their own."

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: "Our services have always been discretionary, funded in addition to our statutory duties in areas such as adult social care and education.

"Due to severe financial pressures and rising demand for services we are required to deliver by law, we made the difficult decision in October 2024 to withdraw funding for these non-statutory services.

"Our priority is safeguarding the most vulnerable within the resources available, and anyone at risk of homelessness can still access a Care Act needs assessment, ensuring those with eligible social care needs remain protected."

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