![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/the-last-lockdown-rough-sleeper-living-in-a-hotel/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/130206527_paulatherton.jpg&description=Image caption, Paul Atherton buys fresh socks and underwear every six weeks Thousands of rough sleepers were taken off the streets and housed by the government when the first Covid-19 lockdown was announced. Three years later, one man has yet to leave his "temporary" accommodation. Just after the UK was locked down for three months in April 2020, author and filmmaker Paul Atherton found himself living in a central London hotel. He'd been sleeping rough for 11 years, after losing his rented flat on the South Bank due to an error on his credit file. He'd spent the last three of those years wandering central London by day, and at night sleeping across the seats at Heathrow Terminal 5. Mr Atherton became one of thousands of homeless people on the street who were housed under the government's Everyone In scheme, which gave emergency accommodation to 37,000 people to keep them safe during the pandemic, according to the charity Crisis. He said: "I was using Terminal 5 as my bedroom. I was there prior to Covid breaking out. I was there with what turned out to be just over 300 people across the terminals. Nearly everybody there worked. "They got up in the morning and they just went about their day, and came back at midnight or 1am and slept on the seats, then got up the next morning and carried on like everybody else would." Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Heathrow was popular with rough sleepers when the first lockdown was announced The large number of people needing accommodation exposed the true extent of rough sleeping prior to the outbreak to be four times higher than estimated. "Out of nowhere, on 1 April a team was sent out with not much guidance and said 'get everybody from the airport into hotel rooms'. And that was the first time I was engaged with what later became known as Everyone In." Mr Atherton made a video diary of his experience as part of a documentary called 90 Days of Hope . It explored whether providing temporary accommodation and helping peop){kind=link}
Thousands of rough sleepers were taken off the streets and housed by the government when the first Covid-19 lockdown was announced. Three years later, one man has yet to leave his “temporary” accommodation.
Just after the UK was locked down for three months in April 2020, author and filmmaker Paul Atherton found himself living in a central London hotel.
He’d been sleeping rough for 11 years, after losing his rented flat on the South Bank due to an error on his credit file.
He’d spent the last three of those years wandering central London by day, and at night sleeping across the seats at Heathrow Terminal 5.
Mr Atherton became one of thousands of homeless people on the street who were housed under the government’s Everyone In scheme, which gave emergency accommodation to 37,000 people to keep them safe during the pandemic, according to the charity Crisis.