Crisis history

Crisis was founded in 1967 in response to the shocking television documentary Cathy Come Home, and a publicity campaign led by William Shearman and Ian MacLeod, then conservative Shadow Chancellor, highlighting the plight of London’s homeless.

A few years later Crisis Open Christmas was born, in 1971, at St Anne's, Westminster. A group of 20 volunteers provided shelter and food for homeless men and women over the Christmas week.

Throughout the 1970s, the numbers of homeless people continued to grow, and in 1975 independent surveys indicated that the number of single homeless people was increasing at a faster rate than at any time since the Second World War.

During the 1980s homelessness maintained its steady increase and in 1987 the first emergency night shelters open during the cold spell in January co-ordinated by Crisis and Shelter and operated entirely by volunteers.

Crisis went from strength to strength, increasing its income, and in 1990 we opened an office in Manchester. In the same year Crisis launched a clothing project, on the streets of London, every second week, giving out clothes and food to rough sleepers. In 1993 the first ever Square Mile Run took place, followed the next year by Crisis FareShare, a food redistribution scheme in London.

In 1995 the Christmas Card Challenge was launched, encouraging companies to donate money to Crisis instead of sending corporate Christmas Cards.

In 1997, Crisis SmartMove was launched as a pilot. Landlords get a guarantee from Crisis in place of a traditional deposit enabling homeless people to move into private-rented accommodation.

Two years later, in 1999, the Crisis website is launched, and Crisis holds a party for homeless people on the night of the millennium attended by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne.

We developed the Crisis Skylight activity centre in 2002. It gives homeless people the opportunity to take part in a range of activities and workshops. In the same year we inaugurated Crisis Changing Lives, giving financial awards to homeless people to pursue their career and education objectives.

The Skylight activity centre was followed by the Crisis Skylight Café in 2004. The café provides homeless people with an opportunity to train in a business environment, while selling fresh food and drinks to the public. In the same year, Crisis Open Christmas was held at the Millennium Dome.

Milestones in 2005 were the launching of two reports with think tank Demos, looking at the role of learning and skills in tackling homelessness, and the winning of a bronze medal for a show garden at Hampton Court Flower Show marking the beginning of a gardening project in East London. We also launched our first Impact Report, an new initiative aiming to demonstrate the impact the organisation has on the lives of homeless people.

More about key events in Crisis' history

Beginnings 1967-1979

Crisis grows 1980 - 1989

Crisis from 1990 - 2005