Safe Shelter has been running one night per week since March to provide a safe and secure place for the region’s homeless.

But with yet another cruel winter creeping around the corner, the shelter wants to expand the service to open for three nights per week, with an eventual aim for a seven-night service.

The service is similar to the ACT’s homeless Safe Shelter, except in Queanbeyan the masterminds behind the project, June Lawrence and St. Benedict coordinator Elaine Lollback, have insisted the service be offered year-round, rather than just through the colder months.

“Safe Shelter is not a way of fixing homelessness, it is a response to the immediate crisis of being homeless,” Ms Lollback said.

“Poverty, homelessness, and disadvantage doesn’t happen nine to five, Monday to Friday, this happens all the time and all year round.

“I think as a human being you have a right to be safe with a roof over your head.”