COUNTY NEWS: Hotel opens doors to homeless people in cold weather

The Ellesmere in Wilmington Square, Eastbourne, is providing free food and shelter for the two men who would otherwise be on the street.

This comes after the Siberian cold weather front dubbed ‘the Beast from the East’ brought temperatures of -10°C including wind chill to Sussex this week.

Manager Tony said, “We opened our doors this morning, two rooms free of charge for the weekend.

“They are very relieved, both of them. They had been staying in the night shelter but were catching colds and freezing during the day, and were worried about the weekend.

“The weather is ridiculous, I have got a heart for homeless people. They’ve fallen on hard times due to relationship breakdown or financial problems or whatever.

“We don’t want to see anybody in this weather staying outside, it’s horrendous, it’s bad enough going out for 20 minutes never mind being there all day.”

The hotel contacted the charity Home Works (East Sussex) to offer to do what they could.

They have now arranged with the local housing association to let the pair stay in the hotel for a period of time to get them back on their feet.

To read more about homelessness in Eastbourne, click here or here.