IT is encouraging to see the news that more than £60,000 has been offered to help offer support to rough sleepers, especially since the money is intended to be used for preventing people becoming homeless in the first place.

If someone is at the stage where they need to use a shelter because they have no-where to sleep, the ship has sailed, we need to be more pro-active in helping people avoid getting to that stage.

Having more homeless shelters is good, and will provide a safe and warm place for people to stay, but that does not tackle the root causes of rough sleeping, it merely treats the symptoms.

That is why this investment should be welcomed and applauded. If we can give people the support they need at an earlier stage, we can better identify the reasons why people become homeless, and tackle it before it gets to the stage where they need to use a shelter overnight.

The issue of homeless shelters is similar to the issue of foodbanks. If people are at the stage where they need to use them, they should have been helped much sooner, rather than just putting a plaster on the wound.