ALABARÉ is launching an urgent appeal to keep rough sleepers safe, warm, and alive throughout the entire winter — not just during sub-zero nights. Across Wiltshire, people are already bedding down in doorways, car parks, and loading bays as temperatures drop. For those living on the streets, winter is not just harsh — it’s life-threatening.

Under the national Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP), emergency beds are only offered when temperatures fall below freezing for three consecutive nights. But the danger begins long before that point. Cold winds, driving rain, chronic health conditions, and exhaustion combine to make every winter night a crisis.

That’s why we’re extending SWEP-style provision for the entire winter period. Every night, our teams will keep doors open at ALABARÉ Place in Salisbury and Unity House in Chippenham, offering safety, warmth, dignity, and a hot meal to anyone forced to sleep outside. This life-saving work has already taken 11 people off the streets in late November, with five now remaining in our care, moving towards stability and hope.

But we urgently need your help. We are seeking £40,000 to cover staffing, food, emergency beds, and dignity essentials — so no one is left out in the cold this winter. Every gift helps turn a night of crisis into the first step towards a brighter future.

What Your Support Delivers:

• Emergency accommodation throughout the winter

• Warm meals and essential supplies

• Skilled, trauma-informed staff offering compassionate care

• A pathway to stability and long-term housing

Our experience shows that winter carries the greatest health risks — and the greatest opportunities for engagement. Immediate warmth and support can help people stabilise, reconnect with services, and begin routes away from homelessness.

Your donation makes possible: not just a bed for a night, but a genuine chance to break the cycle of homelessness. Together, we can safeguard lives, restore dignity, and offer hope.

Please give today. Help us keep vulnerable people safe, warm, and alive this winter. Thank You.

How Funds Will be Allocated:

• £27,406 – Staffing ensuring safe supervision, support, engagement, and safeguarding for the whole of winter

• £150 per week for food provision - Warm meals, hot drinks, and basic nutrition for those arriving cold, hungry, and exhausted.

• £3,000 – Emergency camp beds - Sturdy, clean, safe beds across Salisbury and Chippenham.

• £2,000 – Bedding & sleeping bags - Warmth, cleanliness, and replacements for those who come to us with nothing.

• £5,000 – Toiletries, showers & dignity essentials - Access to washing facilities, clean clothing, and the dignity of being able to feel human again.

In 2024, an estimated 1,611 people died while experiencing homelessness in the UK, a 9% increase from the previous year, according to the Museum of Homelessness.