The Adelaide Day Centre for Homeless Persons, which operates a soup kitchen six nights a week on Hurtle and Whitmore squares, says it is experiencing a “dearth of sleeping bags and blankets”.

Charity worker Joel Wood told InDaily it was “quite the mystery” why the Moore Street-based organisation had received fewer donations this winter, but he suspected the COVID-19 pandemic might have had an impact.

“Previously there’s been big organisations which benevolently have shared some of their resources with us,” he said.

“It was usually by the bale – we would receive two or three bales’ worth at a time – multiple times throughout winter.

“This year it just seems to be that we’ve gotten one at a time and, effectively, that’s already tapped out at this stage.”

Wood said the Adelaide Day Centre usually hands out between 30 to 40 sleeping bags and blankets on average each week, but during the peak of winter it could hand out up to 60 per week.

He said due to this year’s short supply, the charity had resorted to purchasing new blankets and sleeping bags to meet demand.

“I’d say conservatively we’ve only got about a third of what we were previously getting, but demand has remained the same,” he said.

“I suppose nobody is producing or buying woollen blankets anymore – they’re all sort of second-hand these days.

“It could just be that this year is a low year for it.”

Fred’s Van coordinator Teresa Branch said blankets and sleeping bags were always in short supply over winter, but demand had been compounded by this year’s particularly cold weather.

She said the mobile food service, which is operated by St Vincent de Paul Society at eight sites across Adelaide, usually hands out about 10 to 15 blankets and sleeping bags each night, six nights a week.

“I suppose the difference with Vinnies is we have our warehouse that can provide us with donations,” she said.

“We do have people donate blankets and what not directly to us as well, which helps.

“We haven’t run out yet.”

It follows warnings that skyrocketing housing and rental prices will force more South Australians into homelessness.

Latest data from the Adelaide Zero Project shows on June 30, 279 people were classed as “actively homeless” – meaning they were sleeping rough, temporarily sheltered or had an unknown address – up from 249 on May 31.

There were 28 people who were identified as sleeping rough for the first time in June – down from 47 in May.

Wood said the Adelaide Day Centre had “definitely noticed more people coming for support, particularly surrounding housing problems”.

“Even just anecdotally I talk to a lot of people who otherwise might not have been homeless,” he said.

“Just because of rental pressure, increasing prices, increasing demand for housing, it’s meant that previously they’ve been in accommodation that was stable or borderline stable for them, (but) the increases have just meant that when their lease is up they get the option of paying $100 to $200 extra per week, or going out on the marketplace and then they can’t find anywhere to go.

“Each night they’d obviously be a lot of repeat customers as well because people don’t magically become homeless and even people in boarding houses – that sort of sub-par accommodation – will often come out and access our services as well.”

The Adelaide Day Centre encourages people who want to donate sleeping bags and blankets to call them first on (08) 8232 0048.

The centre is also open during the day, from Monday to Thursdays, for people to drop off donations.