Having to socialise outdoors due to Covid restrictions has been annoying, but it's made me appreciate how hard it must be for people who are forced to live on the street. To make matters worse for homeless people, most day centres and support facilities have been running at reduced capacity and fewer donations are given on the street. 

I'm volunteering at a Crisis winter shelter from 28th Dec-4th Jan to give rough sleepers a well-deserved break from the cold and a kick-start to their new year.

Please donate to help the shelter run and also provide education, training and support for rough sleepers in 2021.

What happens at the shelter

When they are with us, they are treated as our guests and have access to:

- three meals a day, with treats on Christmas day
- a chance to shower and freshen up in their own rooms
- some sense of community and companionship by telephone befrienders
- an introduction to longer-term support from Crisis



What else Crisis does

In addition to this Christmas project, Crisis offers lots of training opportunities, education and support for rough sleepers. 

Additionallly they campaign Government for change. They have had some noteable campaign successes: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/campaign-successes/

However, England and Wales still have a long way to go - It is currently ILLEGAL to sleep rough in a public place, under the Vagrancy Act 1824. Over 1000 rough sleepers were prosecuted in 2018. Crisis is pushing for repeal before this Act reaches its 200th birthday.



How much to donate

Please just give whatever you feel comfortable donating. Anonymously too is cool.

Here are some suggestions:

£28.87 reserves a place for a guest*

£10.85 sponsors one hour of volunteering

£105.79 sponsors one night of volunteering - if you donate this amount, I will wear any inoffensive hat you choose for a night (yeah I'll provide photo evidence)

The target amount of £740.53 is the equivalent of the London Living Wage for the hours I'm volunteering.

 

Can I donate goods?

Yes - here's the link: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/donate-gifts-in-kind/