Supporting Vulnerable Families

Helping those in need this winter

Over the twenty years that I’ve worked on Shelter’s emergency helpline, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve picked up the phone to a parent who’s terrified that they and their families will be forced out onto the streets.

Things weren’t always this bad. It used to be unusual to hear from people in well-paid jobs struggling with their rent or facing homelessness and use of foodbanks was rarely reported. Now, both are widespread and every second call we receive at Shelter is from someone at crisis point - a large chunk of these are families with children.

In fact, this winter, a devastating record of 161,000 children will spend Christmas homeless in temporary accommodation.

The problem is that for decades we’ve lost more social homes than we’ve built. Throw in a pandemic, a cost of living crisis and sky-high rents, and we now see record levels of people facing homelessness.

Every week we’re seeing more calls from people at the sharpest end of the housing emergency. From the family crammed into one room in a hostel with no place to cook their meals, to the people forced to fork out hundreds on getting their child to school after being uprooted to an emergency B&B miles from their community. Or like the young mum I spoke to around this time last year who’d been served an eviction notice that was expiring on Christmas Eve. She couldn’t find anywhere else affordable to rent. “I can’t even afford Christmas presents for my children,” she told me. She was terrified Christmas would be spent shivering on the streets with her little ones. I walked her through her rights, the eviction process, the steps she could take and referred her to a food bank so she and her children wouldn’t go hungry. Sadly, this is far from a unique case.

There is a simple solution to end homelessness for good - building 90,000 genuinely affordable social homes a year for ten years will clear social housing waiting lists and give people a safe and secure home. But until the government delivers the funding for this and gets building, people continue to need our help right now.

This winter, the team and I will be there for anyone who needs us. Donate today at www.shelter.org.uk/donate and help us continue to pick up the phone and give a family the urgent advice they need to find a safe place to call home.

JANE DALEY Helpline Adviser at Shelter www.shelter.org.uk