A homeless charity helping rough sleepers in the borough will open its winter shelter for another year and says the number of people in need of help is increasing.

The Firm Foundation has submitted plans to Harrow Borough Council set up a homeless shelter at a community centre for the fourth year in a row.

The organisation does not publicise the location of the centre, but has has run a shelter there for the past three years, providing a bed and food for ten male guests for 12 weeks over winter period.

The foundation aims to support homeless people in Harrow and is run by eight churches from across the borough.

Charity manager Julian Saunders said: “The fact is we were set up because there was a need for a homeless charity in the borough.

“We are still here because there is still a need, and the numbers are going up.

“One of the things I am most proud of is the charity has managed to get homelessness on the agenda in Harrow and increase awareness.”

For the year from April 2013 to March 31, 2014 there were 48 rough sleepers in the borough, verified by a council street team.

However, for the 12 weeks the Firm Foundation’s night shelter was in operation in 2014, it had 49 referrals, and helped 15 of them find more permanent accommodation.

Mr Saunders said: “One of the toughest things is having to tell someone we can’t give them a bed. That can keep you up at night.

“But we do feed them and let them wash and stay in contact so we can help them down the line.

“For a lot of people this is an issue which is not seen and therefore they don’t even think about. But we do have rough sleepers in Harrow and the numbers are increasing.

“We have come a long way and I would love to work myself out of a job, but there is still a lot of work to do.

“We can only move forward now by having organisations like the council, charities and volunteers working together to deal with the problem.”

The charity’s night shelter is referral only and not an open hostel for homeless people, with volunteers from different churches helping to run it each night in the winter months.

Looking forward the foundation would like to set up a permanent drop-in location for homeless people to be able to get help from different services, which it hopes will also help give it a better idea of the numbers on the streets.