A CHARITY helping the homeless in Bradford has doubled the number of beds it can offer rough sleepers in winter after stretching Council funding.

Hope Housing now has 20 beds at its assessment centre in Manningham.

The charity opened its Cold Weather Hub with ten extra beds two weeks ago. It was filled only four days later and has remained full since.

Funding from Bradford Council means the extra ten beds, which were originally only available for when temperatures were predicted to be below zero, are now on offer to homeless men every night until the end of April, regardless of readings on the thermometer.

Hope Housing chief executive Adam Clark said: "We would not have opened up those ten beds at all in the last two weeks if we were just working off temperatures but with efficient working of our funds we have been open every night , after the first four days we were full.

"The idea is that we give shelter while the men get support from a move-on worker. It's meant to be short stay and we try to keep it for less than two weeks. We had one guy who was only with us for a few days but sometimes people's situations are very complicated and it takes longer."

Hope's assessment centre with ten all-year round beds opened in February this year.

"The Council had funded our Cold Weather Hub but originally it was only for the nights that were freezing, however, we've used those funds carefully and have been able to stretch them so we are open every night until the nights get warmer.

"We are fortunate that we've had funding for our hub from the Council while other organisations in the city working with the homeless are offering cold weather provision off their own backs."

Bradford Cyrenians, The Blenheim Project, BradfordNightstop and Incommunities' run Octavia Court all offer cold weather beds when temperatures drop to zero and minus.

Mr Clark said last year was reported by theMet Office as being one of the warmest of the last 50 years so the cold weather provision was not open for many nights, but it still provided much needed support in winter.

He added: "We are delighted the cold weather provision is making significant progress to develop a cold weather hub and we are grateful for the support of Bradford Council to make sure there is extra beds available for rough sleepers this winter.

"This partnership reflects some of the fantastic work done by organisations across the Bradford district who work together to prevent people dying in the streets every winter. it is a vital lifeline to people who face the prospect of sleeping rough when the temperature drops to freezing."