Homelessness is catastrophic and the longer a person is homeless the harder it becomes for them to get back on their feet.

There are currently thousands of people registered as homeless in Northern Ireland, with many hidden homeless who are not counted in the official figures. Behind each and every one of these numbers there are people and families like little Noah and Caroline.

Having lived with a foster family, last year little Noah was reunited with his mother Caroline in our Birch Haven family service. Depaul services give families time and space to address the root causes of their homelessness. In Birch Haven, Caroline and Noah quickly bonded again. Noah was so happy to be back with his Mum and he just loved playing on the garden slide! After a few months, with the support of their key worker, the family moved back to independent living.

Noah and Caroline's story is a positive one, but sadly there are many more people who urgently need our help. As we don't receive enough funding to cover all our costs, we need to fundraise so that people who are homeless and existing on the very fringes of our society can get the support they so desperately need.

We need to raise £5,000 for our services this February to ensure that no one is turned away when they are in crisis.

You can help by joining Depaul's 10,000 Steps a Day in February Challenge. By taking part and more importantly by fundraising you will send a strong message to your community that homelessness is unacceptable and that you want to do something positive about it.

Thank you so much for your support!