Rough sleepers were ‘denied the chance of a warm bath and bed’ after a homeless charity refused two free rooms offered on a freezing cold night (file photo)
A homeless charity in London turned down two free rooms in a four-star hotel on a freezing cold night due to fear of ‘favouritism’.
Celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman, also known as Mr Loophole, offered the rooms at a hotel after he was unable to travel due to the severe conditions.
As temperatures plummeted to around -4C in London on February 28, homeless charities across the city struggled to find enough beds for the homeless people sleeping on the streets.
Mr Freeman had booked and paid for two rooms at the Copthorne Tara Hotel in Kensington in order to attend a reunion dinner of his old public school.
But not wishing to see them go to waste he asked his daughter Sophie, who lives in London, to give them to a homeless charity.
When she called one charity, Glassdoor in Chelsea, she was told that they couldn’t accept the offer of two hotel bedrooms as they couldn’t show ‘favouritism’.
The decision would have meant that two rough sleepers missed out on the chance of a warm hotel room and instead spent the night in sub-zero temperatures.
Mr Freeman said: ‘I was absolutely staggered when my daughter told me this. On one of the coldest nights for many years, two homeless people could have had the luxury of a hot bath, comfortable bed and then breakfast in the morning.
The rooms were offered by celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman also known as ‘Mr Loophole’
‘The rooms were all booked and paid for and I told the hotel in advance so there would be no problems on their arrival.
‘Surely it can’t have been too difficult to call send two rough sleepers down the road to take advantage of the offer – instead the two rooms went to waste.
‘No doubt they were following rules, but it would appear common sense has no place in our society at the moment.’
Mr Freeman added: ‘The charities’ polices have stolen from two deserving, but unfortunate individuals, a warm night that no doubt they would have remembered for a long time to come.’
His daughter said: ‘I was stunned by the response. They said it would show favouritism to offer two rough sleepers the chance of a hotel room.
‘It really defies common sense as it would have helped them find more beds for the night for people on the streets on one of the coldest nights of the year.’
Glassdoor works with several partner churches across London to provide shelter for rough sleepers in winter months.
A spokeswoman for Glassdoor said: ‘It was incredibly thoughtful and generous gesture. In some ways it makes perfect sense: we know who needs shelter and people let us know of alternative forms of shelter that is available.
‘But matching up these two is actually more complicated than one might realise. There are safeguarding concerns and logistical challenges.
The two rooms were available in four-star hotel Copthorne Tara Hotel in Kensington, London which Mr Freeman booked in order to attend a reunion dinner of his old public school
‘For example, how can we send a vulnerable individual off to a hotel where we don’t know what they’ll find at the other end?
‘What if the individual has to travel far only to find a hotel that needs passports or other forms of proof that someone who is sleeping rough might not have?
‘Rough sleepers often struggle to hold onto important documents, which sometimes get stolen or go missing. We found it to be a better and more practical strategy to take as many people as we could safely hold into our existing church shelters.
‘The number of individuals finding shelter that week swelled to 150 guests one night across four churches, up from our usual maximum capacity of about 120.’
She said: ‘Our expertise is in working with churches to get people off the streets in winter, and I think our limited resources are better used maximizing this strategy.
‘We always encourage individuals in need of shelter to work with our casework team to help them find a more stable way off the streets.
‘While helping a couple of people into a hotel room for a night might be a treat, the offer of a space in a vetted church shelter is a route that ties them into our services in a more stable and sustainable way.’