The two mothers have been placed in temporay accomodation while they are on a waiting list for a new home
Two homeless mums have said they are struggling to cope after living in a “mite infested” hostel for families in Belfast.
The two women, who have asked to remain anonymous, have been staying at Thorndale Family Centre which is run by The Salvation Army, and say that their lives have been made hell and their children have become sick due to the alleged pest infestation at the temporary accommodation.
One of the women is still at the hostel, although says she is desperate to leave, while the other says she has left it and is now sofa surfing as “all of her belongings had been infested with mites, including her baby’s cot”.
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Both of them have very young children, with one having given birth in the past few months, and say their kids have had to require treatment from the doctor due to being bitten by the mites in the hostel.
Speaking to Belfast Live, one of the mums said: “I was forced into temporary accommodation after the house I was renting was repossessed shortly after giving birth. I thought we had somewhere stable to stay and now me and my two children are homeless.
“Shortly after we came to Thorndale we noticed that we were getting bites overnight while we were sleeping and then started to find these mites over all of our clothes and furniture. The whole place is infested with them and even though our room has been fogged twice, we are still having problems with them.”
The other mum said: “I decided that it was better for me and my children to leave and sofa surf until we can get somewhere new to stay rather than stay at Thorndale any longer. It is infested with mites which have left my child needing medicine due to the issues that the bites have caused.
“I have had to throw out my baby’s cot because it became infested and all we have been offered in return was some tokens to wash our clothes.”
Kirsty McAlpine, Service Manager at Thorndale Family Centre, said: “Following resident’s reports of bed bugs in two flats at Thorndale Family Centre, we engaged a specialist contractor who could not find any evidence of bed bugs. Nevertheless, as a precaution, the contractor treated both flats and laid traps and will repeat this treatment three times in two weeks intervals.
“Meanwhile, support has been given to both residents to launder all bedding and clothing in the centre’s industrial washing machine and tumble dryer.
“We are satisfied we have responded quickly and appropriately, once we were made aware of the concerns – and continue to offer our residents every available support.”
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