Homeless charities that provide bricks and mortar shelter?

Savvy_Sue

Just remembered this group who are creating small homes from old shipping containers. they are also helping people learn useful skills by helping out with some of the conversion work.

They also have a double decker bus: men on the top deck, women on the bottom. I haven't heard how that's working ...

splking wrote: »

Savy_Sue, thanks for your response. I completely agree with your point about homelessness being such a complicated issue, however I am concerned about the number of people sleeping rough on the streets, and whilst there are a multitude of reasons as to why they aren't in accommodation, I would like to support causes that offer some emergency shelter if the weather is particularly harsh on a particular night and rough sleepers don't have the time to be offered a warm and dry place to sleep.

I think you'll find that most large towns / cities with a perceived homelessness problem will have a SWEP - Severe Weather Emergency Protocol - as outlined by tunathecat. However, as Tuna says, most of these won't take animals, and some people won't be separated from their animals, which in some cases is why they don't have more permanent accommodation. There's no easy solution to this ...

SeanTowers

Good to see someone checking out charity financials when considering a donation. Too many of the large charities are spending too much on fundraising. Convincing you to donate to charity A instead of charity B, diverts money away from overall charitable spending. Centrepoint, Crisis & Shelter spent a combined £31 million on fundraising in their last accounts. Shelter spend 70% on charitable activities, Centrepoint 65% and Crisis 62%. That's between 30% and 38% not spent on charitable activities! Do you want 38p of every pound you donate going on TV adverts?

splking

Slightly off topic, but as a motorcyclist I've always been encouraged by fellow riders to donate to air ambulance services as you never know when you, or another cyclist might call upon their life saving services. Believing Essex Air ambulance to be underfunded I looked into their financials to find a service that looks a lot healthier than I was expecting. Out of every £1 raised, 24p is saved for future delivery (i assume that's the clever way of saying 'retained for investment'), 40p is spent on charitable services, and 36p is spent on raising more funds. For every £1 spent on fundraising, £3 is donated. Not quite sure how I feel about that... air ambulance services should be incorporated into public services in my opinion.

H

Mojisola

splking wrote: »

I am looking to support charities that help Homeless people, but I'd rather pick a charity (or cause) that provides shelter and accommodation for those who are sleeping rough.

A lot of the big homeless charities I have looked at (crisis, shelter etc.) provide legal assistance, or advice, counselling and other useful services, but very little actual shelter for those on the streets at this time of year.

Does this fit the bill - https://www.roomsponsor.org.uk

Gets youngsters off the streets and gives them the help to turn their lives around.

tightasagnats

https://centrepoint.org.uk/

Centrepoint are specifically for homeless youth and provide accommodation and other services. Lots of young people coming out of care end up homeless and at great risk.

Ed-P

tightasagnats wrote: »

https://centrepoint.org.uk/

Centrepoint are specifically for homeless youth and provide accommodation and other services. Lots of young people coming out of care end up homeless and at great risk.

We have Centrepoint in Brighton and they do great work with younger homeless people. You can sponsor a room for £12 a month through them.

sooty&sweep

Hi

https://www.wearestreetlife.org is a charity in Blackpool that offers a shelter for young people.

They also support those young people to move forward with their lives.

A very worthwhile charity !

Jen

Arthog

To echo what Savvy Sue said, and to digress slightly, It is very complex, and what is actually needed is Prevention Prevention Prevention.
We are busy picking up the pieces and relieving the situation briefly but action is needed before the person becomes homeless.
It would take a Support Worker to work briefly or longer-term with each person who may become homeless, and the list of issues is long. For example:
Are they claiming all possible Benefits?
Is there addiction draining their finances?
Is Counselling available to help them overcome past trauma?
Are they able to budget their income?
Are they motivated to make their life better?
Is there antisocial behaviour which may result in eviction?
Are they paying their rent?
Is support needed to negotiate with parents to avoid a young person being 'thrown out' of the home?
Have they rushed into a relationship with a partner they barely know only to find it has failed?


I wonder how many of the Homeless Charities are lobbying our MPs to really help.
It needs legal changes, education, financial education, good parenting, and so on, and starts on the day we are born.


(I was a support worker for over 20 years while financially supporting a different homeless charity. I have also been homeless.)

splking

Hi all,

Apologies for the lack of reply. I can't tell you how helpful your replies have been, it's greatly appreciated.

I have used the information above to reach out to almost every charity mentioned to start the process of trying to create fundraising partnerships with the startup I am working on. I really do hope we can help share the load with these amazing groups and people who so selflessly work to help those less fortunate than so many of us.

Please do add to the list if you know of any other local organisations who could do with more support.

As the weather turns especially harsh this week I can only imagine how difficult it must be for those who don't have a home, it's a situation that really shouldn't be as prolific as it is in this wealthy country.

H