A NEW support service will make a difference to the lives of Glasgow's homeless community - and their pets.

READ MORE: Derek Bradford spent 20 years homeless on Glasgow's street

The drop-in facility will include a treatment room with triage services, a quiet area and kitchen with pets also welcome.

The multi-agency centre will house a range of services for vulnerable adults with multiple complex needs based on the award-winning City Ambition Network (CAN).

Mhairi Hunter, chairwoman of Glasgow City Joint Integration Board, said: “Many homeless people gravitate to the city centre and the hub will be somewhere safe and warm where they can get urgent assistance quickly, as well as being directed to other services which can help them with non-urgent health care, food, showers, clothing and accommodation.”

People with personal experience of life on the streets have helped Glasgow City Health & Social Care Partnership (GCHSCP) and partners redesign the city’s homelessness services to ensure they are easily accessible for those in need.

Plans for the hub include a treatment room offering triage services, an office, a quiet area and a kitchen.

Pets will also be welcome at the centre, which is expected to open at the end of this year.

External funding of £150,000 has been secured to set it up with additional support from The Robertson Trust and funding from GCHSCP.

A steering group making decisions about the centre will include Glasgow City Mission, the Simon Community, Turning Point Scotland and the Marie Trust.

The drop-in centre is a collaboration between public and Third Sector organisations.

Ms Hunter added: “Partnership working is at the heart of this new project.

"We have listened to the views of people who have personally experienced homelessness and their comments, along with those of our Third Sector partners, have helped shape plans for this new facility."

Other partnership projects such as CAN have, council bosses said, highlighted the benefits of joint working.

CAN was set up 18 months ago by GCHSCP and the Third Sector.

It recently received recognition at the Scottish Social Services Awards where it won the Silo Buster category.

Proposals for the new city centre hub will be heard by Glasgow City Integration Joint Board today.

The hub location has yet to be finalised.

The announcement of the new scheme comes as the number of people applying for help with homelessness has increased for the first time in almost a decade.

Figures show Scottish local authorities received 34,972 applications for homelessness assistance between April 2017 and March 2018, one per cent higher than the same period during 2016/17.

The increase follows eight successive years of annual decreases from a peak of 57,672 applications in 2008/09.

The main reasons for applying as homeless were disputes within households and relationship breakdowns.

The National and Official Statistics Publication figures show the number of people living in temporary accommodation has also increased one per cent from last year.

There were 10,933 households in temporary accommodation, with the number of children in such settings increasing by 557 - or nine per cent - to 6615, the fourth consecutive annual increase.

Homelessness charity Shelter Scotland branded the figures as "shocking".

Director Graeme Brown said: "Every 18 minutes a household was made homeless in Scotland last year with 34,972 homelessness applications - more than last year.

"For the fourth year in a row the number of homeless children living in temporary accommodation has risen - up 9 per cent to 6,615.

"And people are having to stay longer in temporary accommodation with their lives in limbo.

"This is clear evidence that the good progress we have seen in recent years is now being reversed and bad housing and homelessness is blighting the lives of even more people in Scotland - robbing them of their health, security and a fair chance in life."

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: "Everyone deserves a safe and warm place to call home which is why we are committed to ending homelessness and rough sleeping for good.

"We want time spent in unsuitable temporary accommodation to be as short as possible, especially for households with children or where there is a pregnancy.

"We also need temporary accommodation to be of a high standard, with good support, for everyone."

Political parties said the figures were disappointing.

In April this year, Glasgow City Council discussed plans with the Crown Office that would see people issued with banning orders if they are persistent offenders committing drink and drug related offences.

The move was in response to a minority of people either homeless or who appear homeless spending days drinking and begging in the city streets.

Voluntary organisations expressed concerns the move would criminalise vulnerability but the council responded that the move was not aimed at penalising homeless people.