Can you believe it, it’s December again and I am preparing again to volunteer for Crisis @ Christmas. Another year passed and I do hope it has been ok for you, as we all have allot to deal with in these challenging times. With that in mind, I fully understand if you are not able to support this Year. However, I hope you do not mind the Tandy Crisis annual email again. 😊

This Christmas thousands of people experiencing homelessness will need support. Nearly a quarter of a million households across England are now experiencing the worst forms of homelessness. That includes rough sleeping, sofa surfing and staying in unsuitable temporary accommodation like B&Bs. Rough sleeping alone has increased in England by 27% in the last year. Your donations to the Crisis at Christmas charity appeal make this support possible. In London alone there are currently over 5,000 rough sleepers in the Capital alone!

This is my 14th year for volunteering at Crisis At Christmas, but as I am sure you have seen for yourself, it is still a very sad situation with more people than ever being homeless in some way. This year and going into 2025 with the continued cost of living crisis, as well as the increase in homelessness, I am sure you will agree, that it is still needed and now more than ever. I always wanted to volunteer for a homeless charity, as homelessness has always been something I felt strongly to try and help to do something and learn about. Ever since I started volunteering in 2011, I have found it really a rewarding and a positive thing to do at the festive time.

The new Hotel and day centre Crisis model that Crisis started due to the Pandemic, has really shown long lasting results, here are the stats from C@C 2023:

• We extended provision in one of our hotels until mid-January and provided rooms for 196 people over four weeks.

• 98 Guests were assigned a dedicated case worker and received support after leaving the hotel.

• As of the end of April 2024, 66 people are continuing to receive specialist support to sustainably end their homelessness.

• 61% of our hotel guests were not seen rough sleeping between leaving the hotels and the end of March 2024.

• 65% of guests who benefited from our extended hotel provision were not seen rough sleeping between leaving the hotels and the end of March 2024.

• 86% of people who moved into accommodation immediately upon leaving the hotel were not seen rough sleeping again.

If you want to lean more what I and hundreds of fellow volunteers with Crisis will be doing this year – read on here!

I will again be doing the NEW full day centre all day shifts (8.00 am- 6.00pm) this year, from the 23rd December (centre Set up day) and then when the centre is open for Guests from the 24th December- 28th December and then close down the centre on the 29th December, at a day centre in South London. I will be doing 7 shifts / days in total.

This year we will be able to offer full services in our three London day centres, like we did before the Pandemic. We will also be operating the Crisis three rough sleepers Hotels, like last year. The three London Hotels offer a dignified stay for 575 guests for the 14 nights. In addition, the extended additional 2week accommodation at the hotel January extension for 177 guests.

Here is an example of what we will be offering this year:

You can help us give as many people as we can a Christmas to remember

Nobody should be without a home this winter. Help give someone who’s homeless access to:

• Hot meals and Christmas lunch

• Help with a place to stay, including hotel accommodation

• A long-term personal case worker

• Christmas activities of arts and crafts, games and quizzes

• Advice on housing, employment, welfare and benefits

• Companionship from volunteers

• Support with mental and physical health

• Year-round support, including training and education

• The chance to leave homelessness behind for good.

Crisis @ Christmas action:

"I came to the hotel in December and stayed for a month... It made a big difference to my life. I was not worried about what might happen. I felt safe in the hotel and that I would be OK.”

Sammy, Crisis at Christmas guest

Our three hotels will operate as last year, for over 500+ rough sleepers, giving them accommodation and one to one targeted support from the 22nd December to the 6th January. In Addition, Crisis has again managed to raise additional funds (with your help), to keep the largest Hotel open for additional time for the most the vulnerable until the 21st January 2025. All these services will be done in conjunction with all year round established rough sleeping organisations, such as: St Mungoes, local councils, Support services and hostels etc.

Crisis will also have centres across the UK including: Birmingham, Coventry, Edinburgh, Merseyside, Newcastle, Oxford, and South Wales.

https://www.crisis.org.uk/crisis-at-christmas/

If you would like to read more on how we are delivering Crisis again this Year and how your donation will help Crisis deliver this Christmas (as well as all Year round), and what has changed / learnt from the changes we had to do in 2020/2021/2022, please take a moment to read below.

In 2020 & 2021, we had to radically review and redesign the Christmas offer to respond to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. For the three tears for two weeks, we accommodated around 500+ guests in hotel rooms around London. Our guests told us that they benefited from more privacy and a space, albeit temporary, they could call their own. We have learnt a lot through our review and evaluation of last Christmas and as a result, changes were made to how we run our project from 2022 and in future years. This has been led by feedback from our guests and we hope that this will bring the best benefits to our guests.

You can check out to see the incredible impact the support of people just like you, had over last Christmas 2023- see below:

With the help of many generous supporters and over 3,660 dedicated volunteers, we provided hotel accommodation, hub services, food and wellbeing packs for 6,600 people who were experiencing homelessness last Christmas. At multiple locations across the UK, our volunteers worked together to provide companionship, support and a wide range of vital services.

• Our three Day centres like the one I volunteer at, had 2,648 people enter over the Christmas 2023 period.

6,600 people offered healthcare, accommodation, food and company across the UK at the various Crisis centres.

1,759 people given a wellbeing pack including information and advice, toiletries and clothing

3,660 + volunteers

578+ people accommodated in hotels in London.

Useful links:

• Please don’t forget if you are a UK tax payer, to tick the gift aid reclaim box-it makes a difference and does not cost you a penny!

• If you would prefer to donate direct to Crisis. For example for just £29.80 you would be reserving a place for one of our guests. You will not only be providing warmth, company and happiness for someone this Christmas, but also long-term support through our year-round services to end their homelessness for good.

• Donate here: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/donate-to-crisis-at-christmas/

• The monies raised at Crisis At Christmas play a massive part in the fundraising, in the work they do all year round, not just at Christmas, so your donations really count through the year!

The Crisis long term plan and aim as we all would want, is to try and end homelessness for good and to assist the current homelessness out of the never-ending spiral of being homeless in the first place. If you would like more information on what I do at Crisis at Christmas and what Crisis does all year round and it’s aims and goals to help end homelessness, please click here https://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/how-we-work/our-strategy-for-ending-homelessness/

Although all the people are like me and are Volunteers, it still all costs money, so your donation will make a real direct difference!!!

I have seen it for myself what your donations, Crisis and the volunteers achieve for all our guests, who really do appreciate and value everything we offer them. You can read / watch short videos of some of their and the volunteer stories (and the services and stats over the festive period) we offer, here on the Crisis website: https://www.crisis.org.uk/crisis-at-christmas/

You can read more on what Crisis does all year round here https://www.crisis.org.uk/ from its Skylight centres around the UK supporting and advising the homeless and enabling many to get out of homelessness for good; to political lobbying to influence changes in housing legislation in many areas. An example, of all year-round support and work that Crisis do at their Skylight centres across the UK.

So, whatever you can spare this year, I, Crisis and (more importantly as always), the homeless people of London and across the UK will be enormously grateful.

Please feel free to spread this link to others- as you know I am not on Face book / Twitter - I am still that dinosaur- sorry!

Once again, many thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you have a really wonderful festive time and let us all hope we find a way out these difficult times for so many in 2025. I think it has all made us realise how lucky many of us are and take many things for granted and there are many people less fortunate than many of us.

Take care and look after yourself and others and Happy Festive and I wish you all the very best for 2025.

Steve

Steve Tandy