Story

“A future free from homelessness starts now." - Crisis

This Christmas day I'll be volunteering for Crisis at Christmas but hopefully unlike last year I won't just be donating general help and merry but clunky music (small sheet music malfunction-my fault) but also your kind donations to help raise funds for this amazing organisation! I promise as a sponsored volunteer I will un-clunk my music this year. Consider each donation a corrected chord and a gift to everyone's ears :) Now for the important stuff!!

It's a really important cause that I'd love for you to read more about below as it's an egregiously demonised, purposefully misrepresented and weaponised subject in the media & politics as opposed to the very real and impossibly challenging human experience it is that shouldn't exist, but the GOOD news is you can help! This could be by sponsoring me as a volunteer this Christmas, donating to similar organisations,* or if you're unable to contribute financially, volunteering (there's year-round accessible opportunities with these organisations**) and/or sharing the cause! Details for these further down :)

By sponsoring me, you're helping provide:

"Hot meals and Christmas lunch, help with a safe place to stay, a long-term personal case worker, year-round support, including training and education, advice on housing, employment, welfare and benefits, companionship from volunteer befrienders, health and wellbeing programmes, support to leave homelessness behind for good." (Crisis:2025)

Crisis' suggested donation amount is £29.80. "This is based on the number of people we expect to support and includes set up, food, clothing and accommodation, travel and insurance. We review this figure every year. This includes longer term support to help leave homelessness behind for good." (Crisis:2025)

To help donate to their Crisis Christmas wishlist, go to: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/donate-gifts-in-kind/christmas-wishlist-london/

Giving people the safety and comfort of their own hotel room, alongside dedicated advice and support, is a transformative and dignified approach that can change lives. If you can, please help us to deliver our essential services again this year...Together [in 2024,] we provided warmth, a safe place to stay and specialist support to people experiencing homelessness during one of the toughest months of the year. (Crisis:2025)

The demand for our services [in 2024] was extremely high. This is against a context of rising homelessness, with over 270,000 households in Britain experiencing the worst forms of homelessness, including spending night after night on friends’ and families’ sofas, stuck in unsuitable temporary accommodation like nightly paid B&B’s, or sleeping on the streets...Support included hot meals, health and wellbeing services such as GPs, opticians and hairdressers, and specialist advice on benefits and housing. We also supported thousands more people in insecure accommodation across England, Wales and Scotland, providing warmth, companionship, food and advice...This year, we will open two hotels in Docklands and Aldgate, plus three day centres in Paddington, Pimlico, and Stratford. We are also piloting our new Women-Led Pathway in East London.(Crisis:2025)

"I lost my mum – then I lost everything. I went from caring for my mum to not being able to care for myself. I was evicted and there was nothing I could do about it. Everything happened so fast, there was no time to get help. I was so lost… I’d just walk and walk all night. You’ve got to keep your wits about you all the time. Honestly, there were days I didn’t want to keep going. Crisis brought me back from the brink. Having a bed felt strange – I was used to concrete. That first haircut and shave made me feel like my old self. My flat isn’t much, but at the same time it’s everything."— Simon's story is based on real experiences. (Crisis:2025)

When someone walks through our doors at Christmas, it can be the first day when everything changes. The day someone gets out of the cold and feels the weight of pressure lift off their shoulders. The day someone gets help with finding a safe place to stay, employment and training. The day someone starts to end their homelessness. (Crisis:2025)

[In England] The latest official statistics show 327,950 households were owed support to prevent or relieve homelessness after contacting their council for help in 2024...up 5% on the record-high 310,850 recorded in 2023...A total of 131,140 households were living in temporary accommodation in March 2025 – a record-high and 12% higher than a year ago. The total number of children living in temporary accommodation has now reached 169,050. (Big Issue:2025)

[In Wales] The most recent statistics showed more than 13,287 households contacted councils for support with homelessness between April 2024 and March 2025...That means more than 10,000 people are currently housed in temporary accommodation. An estimated 166 people are sleeping rough in Wales. (Big Issue:2025)

[In Scotland] The most recent annual statistics found there were 34,067 households experiencing homelessness in 2024-25, containing...15,046 children..the number of households living in temporary accommodation, rising to 17,240...[including] 10,180 children ...temporary accommodation has not been offered to households in need has more than doubled since 2023-24, rising from 7,955 to 16,485. (Big Issue:2025)

To hear more people's stories: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/real-life-homelessness-stories/?sb=date

*Other great organisations for this same & similar causes you can donate to (and check out their year round accessible volunteer opportunities too!) below:

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Crisis-

Donate: This page

**Volunteer for Christmas: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/volunteer-at-christmas/volunteer-at-christmas-in-london/

**All volunteering: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/crisis_uk/?hl=en

https://www.tiktok.com/@crisis_uk?lang=en

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Shelter-

Donate: https://www.justgiving.com/charity/shelter

**Volunteer: https://england.shelter.org.uk/support_us/volunteer