This winter, help Organising Food For London (OFFL) provide 170+ lifesaving Winter Care Bags packed with warm clothing, blankets and toiletries for people sleeping rough across London and beyond.

£35 funds one full bag

Cold night. Hot food. Warm clothing. Thanks to supporters like you, no one in this queue goes away empty-handed.Every week, the queue gets longer. Your £35 Winter Care Bag helps us say “yes” to those who turn up desperate and cold. Click the "Read Story" button below for more information

Photo: A long line of homeless people queuing, at night beside an OFFL van, to receive their Winter Care Bags last year (faces pixelated for privacy)

Tonight, someone will try to survive the cold with nothing but the clothes on their back.

While most of us head home to a hot meal, a warm shower and a bed, hundreds of people will be trying to make it through another freezing night on the streets – often with no spare clothes, no blanket and nowhere safe to go.

For someone sleeping rough, a warm change of clothes and basic toiletries aren’t “nice to have” – they’re survival.

Each Winter Care Bag costs us around £40 to put together. This year, we’re asking supporters to sponsor a full bag for £35 and help us bridge the gap.

We need your help!

What is a Winter Care Bag?

Each bag is carefully packed with a range of warm items and essential toiletries – the basics most of us take for granted and often the only things they will receive to see them through the 4 coldest months of winter.

Specifically, each bag contains essential items, including:

a) External Items - fleece blankets and waterproof ponchos

b) Clothing (Unisex/Men) - thermal wear including socks, vests, long johns, scarves, hats, gloves, boxers, t-shirts and hoodies

c) Clothing (Female Specific) - t-shirts and jumpers

d) Toiletries - toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, shower gel, shaving cream, combs and for women, essential sanitary towels.

Every single Winter Care Bag will go directly to someone sleeping rough on the streets – not held in any storage cupboards – straight into the hands of those who need them most.

The photo above represents just a selection of some of the items that go into the Winter Care bags

Why this matters: John’s story

One of the men we helped, John, came to our food run on a bitterly cold December evening.

He told a volunteer that:

• He hadn’t eaten any substantial hot food for four days

• He had nothing to his name – not even a change of clothing

• He had been feeling deeply suicidal

When he received his Winter Care Bag – warm clothes, a blanket, toiletries – he said:

For John, it wasn’t just a bag of “stuff”.

It was dignity, warmth and a reason to keep going.

Your donation creates moments like this.

Our target – and why we need you now

We are aiming to raise £6,000 by mid-January, with the majority of funds needed before Christmas, when we distribute most of the Winter Care Bags and then provide smaller top-up items through January and February, when the cold can be at its most severe.

• £35 funds 1 full Winter Care Bag

• £70 funds 2 bags

• £140 funds 4 bags

• £350 funds 10 bags

Our first target of £6,000 will fund at least 170 complete Winter Care Bags, plus essential top-up items in the harshest weeks of winter.

With your help, we’d love to go further and reach 210 bags or more.

Every donation – large or small – gets us closer to someone on the street being warmer, cleaner and safer.

Who we are

Organising Food For London (OFFL) is a volunteer-led, not-for-profit organisation that has been supporting people in need for almost 20 years.

Our motto is:

Over the years, thanks to generous supporters like you, we have:

• Served around 59,500 meals to people who are street homeless

• Provided 3050 Winter Care Bags over the last 16 years

• Supported food runs in Central London for 80+ people each week

• Worked across Central, West and South East London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Middlesex, Lancashire and Merseyside to meet the needs of the homeless, numerous vulnerable families and the elderly with fresh produce and essential food staples.

We are currently in the process of applying for formal charitable status, but we have been operating as a grassroots, community-led non-profit for many years.

100% of all donations go directly to those in need

We know trust matters – especially online.

• OFFL is run by volunteers

• We do not use your donation to pay salaries or admin costs

• 100% of funds raised for this appeal will go directly towards Winter Care Bags and essential items for people sleeping rough

No hype. No gimmicks. Just your kindness turned directly into warmth and dignity for someone sleeping on the streets.

Photo: OFFL volunteers on a cold winter night outreach in Central London (faces pixelated for privacy)

Why support this appeal now?

• Winter is dangerous for people sleeping rough. Exposure to freezing conditions, damp clothing and lack of hygiene can quickly lead to serious illness and tragically, death.

• The cost of living crisis has pushed more people into homelessness and made it harder for them to get back on their feet.

• For many of the people we support, this bag is the only warm clothing and toiletries they will receive to help them overcome their plight during the harshest winter months.

By giving today, you’re helping someone face the coldest months with warmth on their body and hope in their heart.

How your donation helps (examples)

Use these as a guide when choosing your amount:

• £10 – helps provide a blanket, waterproof poncho, warm socks, gloves and a hat

• £20 – contributes to thermal clothing layers

• £35 – funds 1 complete Winter Care Bag

You can also donate any other amount. Every pound genuinely makes a difference.

A personal ask

If you’re reading this at home – with the heating on, a coat in your wardrobe and toiletries in your bathroom – please consider this:

Skipping one takeaway or one night out could mean a full Winter Care Bag for someone who has nothing.

If you can, please sponsor one bag for £35.

If you’re able to do more, sponsor two, four or ten bags and invite a friend, family member or colleague to join you.

And if you can’t give right now, you can still help by sharing this page with others.

This winter, you can’t change the whole world.

But YOU can change one person’s life on the street this winter.

👉 Click “Donate” now and sponsor a Winter Care Bag for £35 – or whatever you can afford.

Thank you, from all of us at OFFL and from the people on the streets who will feel your kindness every time they pull on a warm jumper, wrap up in a blanket or wash with their own toiletries this winter.

Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails.