Shipping containers for homeless prove popular
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A charity has been flooded with enquiries, after its idea of using unwanted shipping containers to house the homeless was featured in Inside Housing.
The Apollo Property Services Group will donate 10 containers – which it uses for storage - to homeless charity Housing Justice and a Christian group in Braintree called ‘Friends of Braintree’, which put up its church building for sale to start a scheme for homeless people and others with learning difficulties.
Sally Leigh, London co-ordinator for Housing Justice, said: ‘The interest in this project has been thrilling. If the right people with vision, expertise, land and resources come forward now, a number of rough sleepers, who have no choice but to sleep outside on the pavement tonight, might be given their own home to call their own
‘This project is cost effective, it fits in perfectly with the green agenda and it’s an exciting opportunity to use short to mid-term land to offer a home to people who need it. The whole project can be disassembled within a day and the land returned to a different use.’
The charity organised a trip to see the containers in Trinity Buoy Wharf on Monday and 15 people from Christian organisations, architects and a private developer went along.
A highlands council has also contacted Housing Justice to ask more, since the Inside Housing story was featured in July about the idea inspired by the Container City project in Trinity Buoy Wharf, which provides space for cultural events and 350 artists, as well as three live/work units.
Paul Johnson, group commercial director for Apollo, said: ‘I was interested in the article on containers being converted into homes for rough sleepers. We are delighted to commit to giving ten containers to Housing Justice by the end of the year. This not only makes financial sense but, more importantly, demonstrates Apollo’s commitment to improving the community wherever we have a presence.’
For other schemes, Housing Justice says it will pay for the containers to be set up, while a local church would help raise money for a deposit on the land and then support the scheme.
The containers are designed to be as environmentally-friendly as possible, with triple glazing and a water collection system, and can cost between £15,000 and £25,000 each.
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Readers' comments (1)
Cafe Artois | 04/11/2009 12:01 pm
Shipping containers?
Shipping containers?
Shipping containers?
I'm sorry, I can't get over hearing that. Getting people to sleep in shipping containers. That is embarrassing and degrading. The article seems to suggest that sleeping in a shipping container is an alternative to rough sleeping. But I had always thought that having to kip in a shipping container WAS rough sleeping. Windows and nice wallpaper arent enough to change that.
Maybe the charity can get some nice cushions from habitat to brighten up a park bench as an alternative to rough sleeping, or create little plots for cardboard boxes with picket fences around them, or shove a sky dish on the side of an allotment shed?
Rough sleepers are people. Aim higher.
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