Making a one-off donation, or signing up to give a charity a monthly contribution, are traditional ways you can help the homeless.
However, you can assist in other ways, including:
Centrepoint
Centrepoint provides homeless young people with accommodation, health support, and life skills with the aim of getting them back into education, training and employment.
- Get your company involved
Businesses can become one of Centrepoint’s partners, with corporate arrangements involving everything from cake sales to team challenges.
- Leave the charity a bequest in your will
You can leave money to Centrepoint in your will, and make supporting homeless young people your legacy.
- Get involved in fundraising and raising awareness
Run a marathon, take on a bike ride, skydive, or challenge your company to sleep out for a night – all are ways to raise both funds and awareness.
- Payroll giving
This is a simple, tax-deductible way to make regular donations to the charity.
- Give through shares
Use your unwanted shares to help give homeless young people a future.
- Volunteer
There are many ways you can volunteer to help homeless young people.
Whatever your donation, it will be put to good use.
A £5 gift will provide basics for a homeless young person such as a toothbrush, towel or clean bedsheets.
Meanwhile, £12 will sponsor a room, meaning a young person will be able to get somewhere secure to stay and start to move on with their life.
A donation worth £35 can fund essential life skills to help young people into a job.
Centrepoint’s mission is to end youth homelessness by 2037, and it is approaching the crisis a number of ways, including a new modular housing scheme in Peckham.
Crisis
Homeless charity Crisis helps people rebuild their lives by providing mental health support, professional courses, and guidance on finding accommodation with the long-term goal of everyone having a safe place to call home.
- Leave a bequest in your will
- Art from Crisis
This is a scheme offering subscribers a unique, premium-quality A5 art card every month. Each one comes with a compelling insight into how the artwork was created, from someone who is experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.
- Crisis at Christmas
Crisis at Christmas not only gives homeless people festive cheer, but can be their first steps out of homelessness.
Want to find out more? Here’s how you can get involved.
Depaul
A UK charity that aims to end youth homelessness by providing wide-ranging and flexible services with the intention of giving each homeless person the support they need to address specific challenges.
This can include everything from counselling and family mediation, to life skills training and mentoring.
You can help with monthly donations.
For just £12 a month, you can change the lives of young people across the UK and ensure they escape homelessness for good.
Emmaus
Emmaus offers people a home, meaningful work, and a sense of belonging.
You can:
- Donate furniture
Emmaus communities depend on donations of furniture and other goods to keep their business going. They also prevent thousands of tonnes of items from going to landfill every year.
- Get your company to choose them as charity partner
There are so many ways your company, staff and customers can support Emmaus. Emmaus can tailor ideas according to your business environment, whilst motivating and supporting staff members.
St Mungo’s
St Mungo’s sends out 17 outreach teams each night to help people sleeping rough to move away from the streets, and provides a bed and support to over 3,150 people.
You can:
- Donate on the street
St Mungo’s fundraisers work on the street and on private land; they only ask people to sign up to direct debit.
- Make donations of necessary clothing, toiletries, etc.
This includes: new socks, underwear and towels, toiletries, food and furniture.
- Give As You Live
Give As You Live online is a free and easy way to raise money for St Mungo’s, simply by shopping online. You can start raising money when you shop at more than 4,300 stores.
Shelter
Shelter provides advice and practical help for those in housing need.
The charity also fights for better investment in housing and for laws and policies to improve the lives of homeless and badly housed people.
To help them, you can:
- Donate to a Shelter shop
- Make a donation through a charitable trust, foundation, or institution
- Set up a tribute fund
With an online tribute fund you can create a dedicated page for friends and family to remember a loved one. There, you can share photos, music, and memories you have of them, while raising money for the charity.