Homelessness charity sees a rise in calls for help

Delays continue following the serious collision

Housing and homelessness charity Shelter is urgently appealing for support for its helpline, after receiving almost 63,000 calls from the south-east in the last year alone.

In the last year, the number of calls to the charity’s free helpline from the south-east, which is part-funded by Marks & Spencer, has increased by 8,300 (15 per cent).

With the helpline struggling to meet demand, this includes many people ringing multiple times desperate to get through.

Shockingly, the charity said one in three of the calls answered came from people on the brink of homelessness who faced losing their home within a month.

This comes in the wake of previous analysis by Shelter, which revealed that almost 7,300 children in the region will be homeless this Christmas day.

As the shortage of affordable homes continues to take its toll and demand for the charity’s services increases, Shelter is calling on the public to help them to be there for everyone who needs them this Christmas.

This year, the tenth anniversary of the partnership with Shelter, M&S will again donate five per cent of every sale of its Christmas ‘Food on the Move’ range directly to Shelter’s helpline.

Nadeem Khan, a helpline adviser for Shelter, said: “Every day I speak to people who face losing something as important as the roof over their family’s heads. Hearing the worry in a parent’s voice doesn’t get any easier, and sadly more and more people are coming to us every day, desperate for support.