Welcome to our 2022-23 impact report. This year has been particularly challenging on our services as rising living costs, soaring rents and a chronic shortage of genuinely affordable housing have pushed more people into homelessness. Crisis has always been there for people in hard times. This past year, our services, expertise and advocacy have been a lifeline for thousands.
Amidst these challenges there have been some moments of real hope and optimism this year. Across Britain, over 9,000 people received our services. For the second year we were able to offer extended hotel provision to Crisis at Christmas guests. And we also successfully campaigned to put an end to rogue landlords exploiting people in poor quality supported housing.
We couldn’t have done any of this without the generosity of supporters like you. Thank you. Together we will end homelessness.
Matt Downie, CEO
Tristia Harrison, Chair of the Board of Trustees
2,014
people ended their homelessness sustainably
5,754
people received intensive, one-to-one support to help end their homelessness
3,484
people were supported by our Crisis at Christmas services
448
people were given their own hotel room and support to end their homelessness at Christmas
3,000
people were supported by specialist homeless hospital teams to access healthcare and housing
837
people accessed classes such as tenancy and employment skills to end their homelessness
4,455
volunteers generously supported us during Christmas, in our shops, our services and more
8
research reports exploring powerful solutions to ending homelessness were published
“It’s so important to have a home. It gives you security; it gives you comfort. From a young age, it’s life-forming. It gives you stability, it’s home. It’s your safe place. It’s your quiet place. It’s your personal space.”
George, 49, is passionate about ending homelessness, having experienced it himself during some difficult periods in his life. In 2020 he was forced to leave the house he was sharing with his ex-partner during Covid lockdown and had to sofa surf at his friend’s house. Crisis supported him to find a home and clear his debt.
“I first met Seetal, my Crisis lead worker in late September/early October 2022. After giving her some background regarding my situation and why I was homeless at that time, she got straight to work to rectify my situation. I wasn't working at the time, and she initially told me that I should get back to work as soon as possible as that would help me to gain a secure place to live. She also provided me with invaluable information in dealing with my debt. Again, this was focused on giving me the best chance of securing a permanent place to live. I had numerous messages and calls, as well as face-to-face meetings with Seetal to check the progress I was making. It really felt like she was completely focused on finding me somewhere secure to be.”
“I moved into the property on 6th January 2023 which was around 3-4 months after my first contact with Crisis and Seetal. Never in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned having a place to call home in such a short space of time. The support Crisis provide is prompt and very effective.”
George is passionate about ending homelessness and is calling the government to take action and build more social housing. He was involved in our Make History campaign, sharing his personal experiences of homelessness, and signing our petition to the UK Government and all political parties to commit to ending all forms of homelessness nationally.
This year showed that when we call for change together, it can be achieved. We launched campaigns in England to provide better support for people experiencing homelessness and secure commitments to end it for good. We also supported Welsh and Scottish governments to progress their plans to end homelessness.
Each year we give out grants to help our members progress into education, employment and to start up small businesses in a range of industries.
Over the year, we entered into exciting new partnerships with national businesses to provide better services and support for people experiencing homelessness.
What’s next: our new 10-year strategy
2022/23 is the final year of our current strategy. Our next strategy will run for 10 years, enabling Crisis to think bigger, spend the time needed to overcome the barriers to progress, and back others who also care about ending homelessness. It is no longer a question of whether homelessness can be ended, but how we can introduce proven solutions. We want to achieve this alongside others who share our vision, especially with the skills and voices of people with lived experience of homelessness.
In ten years’ time across Britain, we want the number of people experiencing homelessness to be going down, and the end of homelessness in sight. We will achieve this through the following aims:
We will publish our ten-year strategy in 2024. Stay tuned for updates!
