A church in Bradford has opened a ‘sleeping pod’ on its grounds, to offer shelter to homeless people.
St Stephen’s Church in West Bowling developed the pod as part of its outreach with the charity Shine.
It contains a single bed and toilet, with a lockable door.
Through Shine, guests are able to use the church’s shower facilities and receive a hot meal.
All guests of the pod are vetted through local homeless organisations. Whilst it is designed for temporary shelter, residents have been able to use it for longer periods, until they can get council accommodation.
Michelle is a mother of four, who has stayed in the pod whilst in recovery from addiction to heroin and cocaine.
"Everything you've got in here, it's so much better than being out on the street on a bench,” she told BBC News.
"Whatever goes on out there can go on out there. But I know that I'm safe in here. And I'm in God's ground."
The pod has provided her reprieve from temptation with her addiction, as council-run shelters were often full of other people in active drug use.
“Now I've been clean off drugs, nearly four years off heroin and 15 months off crack cocaine. So I couldn't be around all that,” Michelle said.
Shine charity leader and member of St Stephen's, Sarah Hinton, told Premier that some guests at the pod have become part of the church family, even after finding long-term accommodation.
"It's who we are at St Stephen's," she said. "The most important thing is that they meet people from the church, and find friendship and a community."
The church partnered with a local Christian homeless charity, Hope Housing.
Sarah says the partnership has allowed them to offer more holistic help for those without accommodation. "It would be quite easy for us to open up the doors, see somebody who's on the streets and just say: 'We've got this pod to come into.' But actually, the difficult thing is the support work that needs to go alongside, in getting those people into accommodation."
Through the charity, guests are given 18 months of support when they move into long-term accommodation.
"We've got stained glass windows on the church, and they're lit up at night," said Sarah. "Those who are in the pod say that they see the window of Jesus lit at night. And I think that taps into something wonderful."