Why the government must listen to you and urgently fund social housing – see page 4. THE TIME IS now
How your donations are spent
Last year, over 5 million people turned to Shelter for advice. We couldn't do this without you. For every £1 you donate:
79% is spent directly on helping people through advice, support and campaigning.
21% is spent on fundraising, helping us raise more money to bring even more change.
Contact us
To get in touch, make a gift or for any questions about your donations or this edition of Home magazine please email info@shelter.org.uk or call 0300 330 1234 (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm, excluding bank holidays).
For online housing advice and access to our emergency helpline, visit: shelter.org.uk
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LET’S TALK ABOUTyou
There’s no single reason people choose to support Shelter. As you can read on page 8, when we asked why you joined our community, some of you talked about a sense of injustice. Others said your personal experiences had motivated you. Others worried about the long-term impact of the housing emergency on children and families. But among all of your varied reasons for being here, several consistent themes shone through. Your compassion. Your commitment. Your belief that we can win the fight for safe, secure homes when we take action together.
Reading what drives you is a huge source of inspiration for everyone, and it encourages us all to do even more to defend the right to a safe home. Now, as we focus on making the government detail its plans to build desperately needed social homes, we know we’re stronger and more unstoppable than ever – because we’re all standing together.
Emma Rowlands Shelter Fundraising Team
IS now
We can’t end homelessness without building social homes. Now, this June, the government must deliver on its promises and finally announce the new homes we desperately need. Thanks to you and thousands of supporters like you, we’ve made it clear to the government that the only way to end homelessness is to invest big in social housing. On 11th June, the government will announce how much it plans to spend on social housing over the next five years.
It’s time for politicians to back up their recent promises with serious investment.
BRING ON THE BOOST
So it’s time for the government to think big. Angela Rayner has already said the government will oversee ‘the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation’. Now we need to see the numbers. England needs 90,000 social rent home to be built every year for the next decade to end the housing emergency. And 11th June is the day when the government can live us its promise of change and cement its housing legacy.
£2.29 bn spent on temporary accommodation in 2024.
164,040 children homeless in temporary accommodation.
SOCIAL HOUSING IS THE ANSWER
It's simple. Social housing is the answer to the housing emergency. Social rent homes are genuinely affordable. Unlike other tenures of so-called ‘affordable housing,’ which aren’t always truly affordable, social homes have their rents tied to local incomes. This means they cost about a third of private rents in England.
They are also generally owned by housing associations or councils that are never for profit. That’s why more social rent homes are vital to kickstart an era when everyone has access to a safe, secure home they can genuinely afford.
TAKING ACTION FROM EVERY ANGLE
Together with over 20 other housing and homelessness organisations, we’ve recently written to Housing Secretary Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to make the case for investing in social housing. It’s a nobrainer, but we need to make sure ministers know that too.
Thousands of supporters also invited their MPs to an event we held in Westminster, where we had positive conversations with numerous politicians about the need for social housing. We leafleted the Treasury too, to make sure its staff are aware homelessness has reached a record high.
Thanks to you, we’re using every tool we have – because we’re not about to let this opportunity be missed.
But decades of underinvestment have left us with a massive shortage of social homes. There are 1.3 million households on the waiting list for social housing. And the cost of funding emergency accommodation is pushing many local councils towards bankruptcy.
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PHIL SHARES HIS STORY
When I first became homeless in 2010, Shelter was there to help me, and they’ve been there for me ever since. I ended up staying on the streets for ten years. It was only a month or two into the pandemic that I was finally offered a place, which I’m still in now.
If it hadn’t been for Shelter, I probably wouldn’t have found out about Pathways, which led to me getting housed during COVID.
Being homeless is not a nice thing but, with Shelter, it feels like there is somebody trying to help. You can speak honestly about it one-on-one with someone. They listen and hopefully put you on the right track. They certainly did for me. They were a great help.
Now, I’m sharing my experiences of homelessness as part of Shelter’s Norfolk Lived Experience Advisory Group. It’s nice to help other people, and to hear the stories of others who have been there too.
This April, I’m going to be at their 30-year anniversary exhibition in Norwich Market with a little corner set up to show how I used to live.
So, a sleeping bag on the floor, a rucksack that I used as a pillow, some cardboard and blankets that I would put underneath them to keep the cold off from the ground, a radio that I kept in the corner, and a big golfing umbrella that I used not only for privacy but to protect me when it was windy. (Rain wasn’t a problem, the cold wasn’t really a problem, snow wasn’t a problem— it was the wind that was the issue.)
Then, behind it, a picture of the wall that I marked with ten chalk lines, one for every year that I slept there.
It’s been over five years, but it seems like only yesterday. I hope it helps somebody. Everyone deserves a home, you know, you need a roof over your head.
Anyone can end up homeless. You can suddenly lose your job. Or your family. Next thing you know, you’re on the streets.
And now the extra funding that helped to place people like me into a home during the pandemic has been taken away. We’re going backwards. Sometimes you just get so frustrated with the people who make these decisions.
Does it take a pandemic to help people?
THE WALL THAT I MARKED WITH TEN CHALK LINES, ONE FOR EVERY YEAR I SLEPT THERE."– Phil
YOU’RE AN inspiration
We asked why you fight the housing emergency with Shelter – and you made one thing clear. We’re a compassionate, determined community.
“Having a stable home is one of the most important things in a child’s upbringing. I moved about 12 times before the age of 18 and that sense of instability still lingers. I support Shelter because people need homes. Not bedsits or sofas – homes.” – Seb
“I am a retired nurse and health visitor. I have seen first-hand how homelessness affects babies, children and their parents in the short and longer term, with relation to health outcomes,
“I support Shelter because I am appalled that in this day and age anyone has to live on the streets or in unsatisfactory, temporary accommodation. No one in this country should have to suffer these hardships.” – Davy
“My heart breaks for those that don’t have a safe, warm home, especially with children involved. I don’t earn a great deal but I have enough to share a little with a charity that needs it.” – Liz
“I was in temporary accommodation with my children for a while. The uncertainty of not having a permanent home is a very heavy mental burden on the whole family. Thanks to social housing, we now have a permanent home.” – Sam
thank you
for defending the right to a safe home. We can only do what we do because of you.
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QUESTIONS FOR… SHELTER’S COMMUNITY FUNDRAISERS
Ellie and Sulayman, our regional community fundraisers in London, support all the brilliant people who come to Shelter to fundraise in the capital. Here’s what fires them up.
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HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ROLE IN THREE WORDS?
Ellie: Varied, interesting and exciting, because you never know what you’ll help with next –from a child who wants to do a bake sale to a company that wants to
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT ANYTHING EXCITING YOU’RE WORKING ON?
Sulayman: So much! Two people – Team Wild Waves – have just broken the record for rowing across the Atlantic and Pacific, raising over £80,000 for Shelter. And our local Fight for Home volunteer groups have got a yoga event, a sip and paint evening and a comedy show coming up. They are basically people who want to support Shelter by putting on fundraising activities. They are very creative!
ABOUT WORKING FOR SHELTER?
Ellie: Everybody at Shelter has a shared goal and really cares about ending the housing emergency in their own way.
We also work closely with the teams at Shelter’s hubs, so we hear stories of what people are facing and that’s a reminder of why ending the housing emergency matters so much.
Think local: Contact your local community fundraiser at community@shelter.org.uk
Take on the National 3 Peaks Challenge or one of our Ultra Treks this year, and you’ll fight for housing justice while having an experience you never forget.
Ready to tackle the National 3 Peaks Challenge on April 26th and hike up Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in just 24 hours?
Or maybe you fancy joining #TeamShelter at one of our Ultra Treks across the country and walking anything from 10km to 100km in stunning UK countryside?
Whatever challenge you choose, we’ll be right there with you. And you’ll be there with people on the frontline of the housing emergency.
