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Shelter / Registered Charity Number : 263710
Shelter is a national organisation with local solutions working to improve the lives of homeless and badly housed people. There has been a 200,000 rise in UK children living in poverty last year. Every Year, Shelter charity campaigners are helping over 100,000 people who are homeless or living in bad housing conditions. You can help Shelter to provide housing for those in need via :
- >> Shelter Build a City Campaign from just £5.00
Shelter's latest housing donation initiative is the Virtual City, where from as little as £5 you can buy a plot of "virtual land" and advertise your business. With 28 drop in centres receiving 45,000 phone calls a year, your donations help to provide the expert housing advice that needs to be given to over 170,000 people.
Although the government claims there has been considerable progress made in ending child poverty in the UK, many charities such as Shelter, have described the current plight as a moral disgrace.
Shelter Facts :
- Every day in Britain children are having to sleep in living rooms or hallways and more than 1 million children wake up in squalid, temporary or crowded accommodation.
- Depression, stress, and harm to children's health are common effects of overcrowding, as well as a lack of space to do homework and not being able to have friends over.
- Shelter provide FREE, professional and independent advice to over 100,000 people each year.
Homelessness in Britain
The issue of homelessness in Britain focusing on homeless people with vulnerable children first captured the public's attention with the release of a 1966 TV programme called 'Cathy Come Home' that showed the plight of a homeless family with children. The furore that erupted after the TV programme resulted in the formation of the homelessness charity Shelter and added impetus to a broader homeless campaign to give homeless people more rights. However, it was not until 1977 that housing authorities were given a duty to help homeless people. A concept of "in priority need" homeless categorisation was also introduced. This included homeless families with children, single people made homeless through an emergency and vulnerable homeless groups were given "in priority need" by councils' housing departments.
That 1977 law remained largely intact for 20 years until a change in 1997 meant councils only had a duty to accommodate homeless people for two years. Several homeless groups previously classed as "in priority need" were also removed. The next significant change affecting homelessness in Britain didn't occur until the 2002 Homelessness Act by which councils must secure long term accommodation for homeless households. With over 100,000 people homeless or living in bad housing conditions (enough to fill the cities of Edinburgh, Bath and Manchester) there is clearly still an urgent need to give shelter.
But you too can make a difference to those homeless, badly housed or deprived families who need help. Regular gifts or one-off donations mean Shelter Charity can plan longer-term work. By joining Shelter's campaign, you can register your protest, take direct action, and help to build a brighter future for one million children and rescue families from the miserable cycle of homelessness and temporary accommodation.
>> Help the Shelter Build a City campaign from just £5
