COC evolves

Homelessness changes - so does Crisis Open Christmas

Homelessness has changed over the last 35 years but it has not been solved.

• Today, the majority of our guests have some form of accommodation, but still need companionship and warmth at Christmas.
• But most of all they need access to services and opportunities that can help them move on and build independent lives.

This year Crisis Open Christmas took further steps to better meet these needs.

Crisis Open Christmas more intimate and human

In 2006 we had seven centres across London, instead of a main centre.

• We believe this approach provides a more intimate, human place for guests to spend the Christmas week.
• Our guests told us that they liked the changes – when surveyed around 80 per cent described this year’s Crisis Open Christmas as ‘very good’ or ‘good’, and the majority of our guests said they preferred the smaller size of the centres.

A word from one of our guests

“Without the COC I’d be all alone, but here you get a friendly welcome, a big smile from the staff at the entrance.” Guest at the Women’s Centre, 2006