Since 2010 the number of homeless people in the UK has more than doubled.

Living in Leeds has made the problem all the more apparent to us, and seeing people sleeping on the streets of the city motivated us to get involved with the local charity Homed. We have all been involved with Homed since we started university, Budelia and Alice for the past 4 years, and Abby and Lydia for the past 2 years. During this time we have seen the amazing work the charity does and wanted to find a way to help the fantastic projects continue.

The organisation is run by students, and aims to help alleviate the immediate struggles of homelessness by providing supplies, food and a friendly ear to the Homeless community in Leeds. By running weekly projects in the city centre and with hostels and shelters, Homed raises awareness among students about the issues surrounding and leading the homelessness. Bringing people together for many different backgrounds, the projects Homed runs help to break the stigma around homelessness and show that people within communities have the power to help one another.

We appreciate any donations, big or small, which will all go directly towards funding Homed’s weekly projects and campaigns. This may be in the form of sleeping bags and gloves to give out in winter, or ingredients to make a home cooked meal with Hostel residents.

Homelessness is not a product of individual misfortune, but an indicator of a social system that is not supporting its citizens in the right way. It is a worsening situation in the UK… however, unlike many social issues, it is well within our capabilities to solve. Initiatives like Housing First in Finland show that it is possible to massively reduce homelessness. It requires cooperation from charities, government and society but we hope that the future of the UK is one that will eventually not include homelessness. In the meantime we will continue to support the work of Homed, and other charities, that are working to reduce the impact of homelessness in individual lives.

Thank you.