Crisis is the
UK national charity for people experiencing
homelessness
Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are:
* living on the streets, also kn ...
. The charity offers year-round education, employment, housing and well-being services from centres in East London, Newcastle, Oxford, Edinburgh, South Yorkshire, South Wales, Croydon, Brent and Merseyside, called Crisis Skylight Centres.
As well as year-round services Crisis runs Crisis at Christmas, which since 1972 has been offering food, warmth, companionship and vital services to homeless people over the Christmas period. In 2016 almost 4,600 homeless people visited Crisis at Christmas, which was run by about 10,500 volunteers.
Since its inception Crisis has been a campaigning organisation, lobbying government for political change that prevents and mitigates homelessness based on research commissioned and undertaken by the organisation.
Matt Downie OBE has been the chief executive of Crisis since 2022.
History
According to Crisis, the charity was "founded in 1967 in response to the shocking
Ken Loach
Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...
film ''
Cathy Come Home
''Cathy Come Home'' is a 1966 BBC television play about homelessness. It was written by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach. A 1998 ''Radio Times'' readers' poll voted it the "best single television drama" and a ...
'' shown the previous year, and a publicity campaign led by reforming Conservatives William Shearman and
Ian Macleod highlighting the plight of homeless people". The drama-documentary ''
Cathy Come Home
''Cathy Come Home'' is a 1966 BBC television play about homelessness. It was written by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach. A 1998 ''Radio Times'' readers' poll voted it the "best single television drama" and a ...
'' was first broadcast by the BBC the previous November.
Since the sixties Crisis has evolved to meet the changing needs of single homeless people, campaigning for change and delivering services to help people find a route out of their homelessness across the UK.
It was one of the seven charities nominated by
Prince Harry
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...
and
Meghan Markle
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family and former actress. She is the wife of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles III.
Meghan was ...
to receive donations in lieu of wedding presents when the couple
married on 19 May 2018.
Crisis Skylight Centres
There are 11 Skylight Centres covering East London (Aldgate), Brent, Croydon, Oxford, Merseyside, South Wales, South Yorkshire, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Coventry. Crisis Skylight Centres are accredited education, training and employment centres, offering practical and creative workshops in supportive and inspiring environments, together with formal learning opportunities that lead to qualifications and finding work.
Crisis Skylight London opened in 2002, with a Crisis Skylight Cafe
social enterprise
A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners.
Social enterprises ca ...
opening on the same site on
Commercial Street in East London in 2004. In 2007, Crisis Skylight Newcastle opened, followed by Crisis Skylight Birmingham and Crisis Skylight Edinburgh in 2010,
Crisis Skylight Oxford and Crisis Skylight Merseyside in 2011 and Crisis Skylight Croydon in 2017.
Crisis at Christmas
Since 1972 Crisis at Christmas has been offering food, warmth, companionship and services to people experiencing homelessness in London over the
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
period. The project is run almost entirely by around 10,500 volunteers, making it the largest volunteer-led event in the UK. In 2016, about 4,600 homeless people come through the doors. Since 2020, Crisis at Christmas has operated in three hotels across London, accommodating 450 people who would otherwise be sleeping rough over the Christmas period. The charity also runs four temporary day centres in London for up to 4,800 people in insecure living situations.
Services offered at Christmas include internet access, entertainment, food and drink, healthcare, opticians, podiatry, dentistry, natural healing and hairdressing.
During the key winter period Crisis at Christmas has centres in London, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Coventry and Birmingham.
Campaigns
Crisis is the national charity for people experiencing homelessness. "We know that homelessness is not inevitable. We know that together we can end it."
No One Turned Away
In October 2011 Crisis launched a campaign to improve the assistance and support provided by Local Authorities to single homeless people.
References
External links
Crisis web site*{{EW charity , 1082947
Homelessness charities in the United Kingdom
Charities based in London
1967 establishments in the United Kingdom
Organizations established in 1967