Spring may have sprung, but our homeless community needs your help whatever the season

Can you help raise funds for homelessness?

The nights remain chilly, so let’s remember those who have no choice but to sleep on the streets, lacking the simple comfort of a roof over their heads that many of us take for granted. Even though the winter months may be behind us, freezing temperatures still pose a risk to our homeless community; the care and support they need are essential all year-round, not just in winter.

Reaching out with a helping hand can make a profound and lasting positive impact. According to The Big Issue:

“Shelter analysis found 354,000 people were experiencing homelessness in England in 2024. That included 16,600 single people living in hostels or other homeless accommodation. Overall, an additional 44,500 people were experiencing homelessness in England in 2024 compared to the year before.

The official rough sleeping snapshot revealed 4,667 people were homeless on England’s streets in autumn 2024 based on single night counts and estimates by frontline workers and local authorities.

That figure represents a 20% increase in just a year and is just 2% lower than the 2017 peak when 4,751 were recorded as sleeping rough. It’s also 164% higher than in 2010 when the count began.

The London-only Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain) figures are considered to be more accurate than the official one-night count. 

The most recent annual count showed 11,993 rough sleepers spotted on London’s streets between April 2023 and March 2024. That’s a 19% increase on the previous year’s total and 58% higher than a decade ago.

In January 2025, a quarterly count showed a 5% increase between numbers recorded through October to December 2024 when compared to the same period in 2023.

How many women are sleeping rough in the UK?

Women are often missing from rough sleeping counts because they tend to be less visible than male rough sleepers due to the risk of violence on the streets. That means women are more likely to seek shelter in cafes, transport hubs or other places rather than bedding down outside.

A coalition of homelessness and women’s organisations in London joined forces to tackle the issue in October 2022. Their first national census across England found the number of people sleeping rough could be as much as nine times higher than the official rough sleeping count.

In the 41 areas covered in the census, frontline teams found 816 female rough sleepers compared to just 189 covered in the official count.

Experts believe as many as 5,000 women could be missing from official rough sleeping counts in England.”

Here at Recycled Clothing Banks, we partner with homeless charities to provide FREE recycled clothing bins, making it easy for people to give their unwanted clothes, shoes, and household textiles a second lease of life. For every reusable tonne we collect, we can pay a homeless charity of your choice up to £400; these financial donations can have a meaningful impact on those experiencing homelessness.

So, instead of selling your unwanted items on eBay or Facebook Marketplace, consider donating them to those in need or arranging for one of our recycled clothing donation bins to be installed in your community.