Shelter is a registered charity that campaigns for tenant rights in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

. It gives advice, information and advocacy to people and lobbies government and local authorities for new laws and policies. It works in partnership with Shelter Cymru in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and the Housing Rights Service in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. The charity was founded in 1966 and raised 48.2 million pounds in 2020/21. Shelter helps people in housing need by providing advice and practical assistance, and campaigns for better investment in housing and for laws and policies to improve the lives of homeless and badly housed people.

History

Shelter was launched on 1 December 1966, evolving out of the work on behalf of homeless people then being carried on in Notting Hill in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The launch of Shelter hugely benefited from the coincidental screening, in November 1966, of the BBC

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television mov ...

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" an ...

'' ten days before Shelter's launch. It was written by Jeremy Sandford and directed by Ken Loach – and highlighted the plight of the homeless in Britain. Shelter was set up by the Rev

Bruce Kenrick Rev Bruce Kenrick (18 January 1920 – 15 January 2007) was an English social activist and Minister in the United Reformed Church and the Church of Scotland. He is best known for writing "Come out the Wilderness" and as the founder of Brit ...

after forming the Notting Hill Housing Trust in 1963. The social campaigner

Des Wilson Des Wilson (born 5 March 1941) is a New Zealand-born British campaigner, political activist, businessman, sports administrator, author and poker player. He was one of the founders of the British homelessness charity Shelter and was for a while an ...

, having seen ''Cathy Come Home'', became pivotal in the development Shelter. Unusually for a charity, in 2008 Shelter saw strike action by its staff in response to changes being made to their terms and conditions.

Financial information

For the year ended March 2017 (England) *Total incoming resources: £60,902,000 *Total expenditure: £62,874,000 *Fundraising costs: £18,852,000 *Total cost of charitable activities: £44,022,000

Sources of funding

*Donations and legacies 54% *Housing advice and support services 29% *Shelter shops 14% *Training and publications 2% *Other 1%

References

External links

Shelter web site
*
Baron Pitt of Hampstead & Shelter - UK Parliament Living Heritage
Homelessness charities in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1966 Charities based in London 1969 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-charity-stub

History

Financial information

Sources of funding

See also

References

External links