Our Street Outreach van was parked outside temporary accommodation last night while staff were inside seeing to a vulnerable person in need of their help.
When staff came out, the van had been attacked by a group of youths who had thrown bricks at the vehicle, smashing three windows and damaging the body of the van; they had also slashed one of the tyres. The group then threw bricks at our staff before running off into the darkness.
Thankfully no-one was injured, however our vehicle sustained significant damage and will now be off the road for an extended period while repairs are carried out.
While the van is now off the road, our Outreach Team is not and we would like to reassure the public, and in particular the homeless people who depend on our services that we will be operating as normal - thanks to the dedication of our wonderful staff and volunteers.
The Street Outreach service provides support to the most vulnerable homeless people in Belfast from 7am-2am every day of the year.
We also deliver over 120 meals a day to people across the city who are in emergency or temporary accommodation and have been doing so since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. We will be doing this today.
We cannot understand the motivation of the individuals involved in this attack on a service that is providing support to people from our own communities and we would ask anyone with any information on this attack to contact the PSNI.