Rough Sleepers | Rough Sleepers | Maldon District Council
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Rough Sleepers

Rough sleepers  

If you see someone who is rough sleeping, you can alert the Council by visiting Streetlink, via the or by calling 0300 500 0914.  It is helpful to provide the “what three words” location of where the person is rough sleeping.   Alternatively, you can let us know by  Contacting Us Online  

We work in partnership with Chess to provide a rough sleeper outreach service in the Maldon District area.  Chess aims to relieve and prevent rough sleeping in the mid-Essex area, an initiative funded by The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government through Essex County Council. 

Chess provides: 

  • interventions to prevent rough sleeping 

  • work with rough sleepers to help them off the streets 

  • rapid assessment of client needs 

  • help to move rough sleepers into private rented accommodation 

  • support to prevent people from re-entering the system 

The details provided by a member of the public are sent to the local authority and outreach team so they can help connect the person to local services and support. 

If you are a rough sleeper you may be able to get help from CHESS and can self-refer by visiting Chess Homeless or calling 01245-281104. 

Those on the street but may not be rough-sleeping 

Some people who appear to be sleeping rough may be engaged in street activities, such as drinking or begging, but in fact have somewhere to stay. They may need a different type of response from local services, and this may mean that you do not see a change straight away. 

This doesn't mean your alert to StreetLink is wasted, it's always better to get in touch about someone you think may be rough sleeping, so that local services can provide support if needed. 

Severe Weather Emergency Provision (SWEP) 

There is a humanitarian obligation on Local Authorities to do all they can to prevent deaths on the streets caused by winter weather. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) previously set the trigger for the provision of SWEP as ‘a weather forecast predicting at least three consecutive nights of temperatures at or below zero degrees Celsius’.  

While this is the minimum requirement and is still used as the trigger SWEP may extend its operation beyond this, taking into consideration other weather conditions such as the effect of wind chill factor or severe flooding to minimise risk of death or serious harm to rough sleepers 

When SWEP is in place, our Housing Options Team look to make sure that no one has to sleep out on the streets.