This winter, your time can give someone the urgently needed safety, support and belief to build a life beyond homelessness. With your help, we can support people to go from crisis to home.
Find your volunteer roleJoin our friendly and supportive volunteer community that’s passionate about ending homelessness. With many volunteer’s returning year after year, the connections you make this Christmas can be long-lasting and the relationships you build with people experiencing homelessness can be lifechanging.
You’ll gain skills, have inspiring experiences, build confidence, and above all, help someone as they build a life out of homelessness and go from crisis to home. Not only this, but you will also be part of a once in a generation moment being led by the Prime Minister – to end rough sleeping and achieve real, lasting change.
Every Christmas, people experiencing homelessness come to Crisis at Christmas in London for a warm welcome, a safe place to stay, and practical support over the festive period.
Our hotels and day centres provide more than food and a place to rest. With the support of dedicated volunteers and specialist staff, guests can access essential services including healthcare, housing support, wellbeing activities and opportunities to connect with others. For many people, it is a chance to take a breath, feel part of a community and begin to think about what comes next.
This Christmas, we will open three hotels in East London, including our women-led hotel, from 21 December 2026 to 12 January 2027. Alongside this, three day centres in Elephant, Paddington and Stratford will be open from 24 to 28 December. Volunteers commit to a minimum of two shifts, helping us create a welcoming, safe and supportive Christmas for people experiencing homelessness.
Join us as a General Volunteer (Day Centres) or Hotel Assistant Volunteer. You’ll be part of a team helping to make sure every guest feels welcome, safe and cared for. You could be:
You don’t need special experience – just kindness, commitment and a willingness to muck in.
There are many ways to support Crisis this Christmas. If our hotels and day centres aren't the right fit for you, you can still play a vital role by volunteer at one of our collections.
By giving just a few hours of your time, you'll help raise the funds that make our Christmas services possible and support people experiencing homelessness all year round. Follow the link below to find a collection near you and sign up for a shift.
"Volunteering at Crisis at Christmas was the best thing I did all year. I felt part of something bigger, and I'll never forget the people I met."— Crisis Volunteer
This year there will be three day centres:
Our day centres will be open to guests from 24 to 28 December 2026. Volunteer shifts are from 9am to 6pm.
Learn a little more about what to expect from volunteering by watching this video.
Our hotels will be in East London. To protect our guests' privacy, we don’t share exact locations. However, you can see the addresses when you sign up to volunteer and have booked your shifts.
The women-led hotel is a Christmas pathway specifically designed for all women experiencing homelessness. Located in East London, this short-term, high-quality accommodation is a women-led initiative grounded in a psychologically-informed approach.
This pathway offers a stepping stone out of homelessness, with every guest receiving one to one casework support, along with opportunities to participate in wellbeing and communal activities. While all rooms are private and there are no shared facilities, communal engagement is available for those who wish to connect with others.
This specialist pathway will run alongside Crisis at Christmas, opening for three weeks from 21 December 2026 to 12 January 2027.
Night owls keep things calm through the night, offering a reassuring presence and sense of safety for our guests.
It might be a peaceful shift, but your role is vital — whether you’re preparing for the day ahead or offering a listening ear to someone awake.
Hairdressers, drivers, opticians, physiotherapists, nail technicians – your expertise helps guests feel human again and opens doors to new opportunities.
Learn a little more about what to expect from volunteering by watching this video.
Join our Canning Town Warehouse team – the hub that keeps Crisis at Christmas running. These active, hands-on roles are perfect if you like variety and being at the heart of the project. You could be:
No matter what you do, you’ll help make sure guests have everything they need this Christmas.
Watch this video to find out what it will be like in the warehouse.
Your application will be reviewed, and you will receive a notification once this is complete.
Once an application has been approved you can select your shifts. If your role requires a disclosure check, you will be asked to start this process.
We have an induction session for all new volunteers and some role specific training as well as a suite of e-learning to ensure you’re well prepared for your volunteering.
Once all the steps are completed, you can begin your volunteering with us.
We want to ensure all our volunteers feel equipped and confident in their role, so we will ask you to complete some essential learning including on topics such as safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion and data protection, as well as role specific training for some positions. Completing this learning will help you and us ensure we keep everyone safe and maintain the privacy of people’s information, as well as creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone.
Once you have registered and applied you will have access to e-learning relevant to your role and will be able to book onto an induction (dependent on your role).
The voice and expertise of people with lived experience is vital in ensuring our service is truly meeting the needs of our members. We encourage anyone with lived experience to apply for our volunteer roles.
We also involve members and people with lived experience of homelessness in opportunities across the organisation including our Experts by Experience panel. For more details, please speak to the Member Involvement Team: memberinvolvement@crisis.org.uk
We’re unable to accept guest referrals from individuals. We would encourage you to contact your outreach worker or use StreetLink to connect you/the person sleeping rough with local services that can provide support.
You can also visit your nearest Crisis at Christmas day centre. Our day centres are warm, safe spaces where people can access support, activities, services and community during the daytime, without needing a referral.
Find details of our day centres on our website, where you can also download and print a flyer to share with anyone who may benefit.
Some of our roles require previous experience or qualifications and others do not.
Professional service volunteers, such as those completing health checks or haircuts will require the relevant qualifications and public liability insurance.
In some roles we may be looking for volunteers with experience of supporting people who are homeless or other vulnerable adult groups. Information about each role will be listed on our website and throughout your volunteer application form. Please check this information before applying to ensure you are applying for the most suitable role for you.
Most Christmas volunteer roles require a minimum commitment of two shifts. The number and type of shifts available will depend on the role and service you’re volunteering with.
We do not ask for references for Christmas volunteers.
At Christmas, due to the volume of volunteers recruited, we are unable to provide detailed references. We will only provide a start and finish date for those who have completed a volunteering shift in the previous two years. The only exception to this is for the lead/senior volunteers who work closely with Crisis and members of staff beyond the Christmas service delivery period.
At Christmas, due to the volume of volunteers recruited we are unable to cover expenses.
We do not provide transport for volunteers to or from their shifts. You would need to use your own vehicle or public transport.
If you are planning to drive to your shift please note our centres have limited parking which is required for our senior volunteer team, service vehicles, and official Crisis transport vehicles. If you need to drive to your volunteering shift, you can use parking space search sites, e.g. www.parkopedia.com to find nearby parking.
We encourage using public transport where possible and you can use the TfL journey planner here: https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/
Due to the popularity of our volunteering programme, we are no longer able to offer opportunities to companies who are looking to source one-off team events. All of our group volunteering opportunities are filled by our corporate partners.
If you are interested in becoming a Corporate Partner, please have a look on our website or send an email to corporatepartnerships@crisis.org.uk
Many of the roles in our services will require a disclosure check, (either basic or enhanced) - you will be able to see this on the role description. If the role does, we use a digital system to manage this and we will request and pay for it (where payment is needed).
If you have a criminal conviction, this does not automatically mean you cannot volunteer for us. However, we may need to ask you more about the conviction to be able to do a risk assessment and decide if you can or cannot volunteer.
Unfortunately, due to the limitations placed on us by our insurance, we are unable to offer volunteering opportunities to those not based in the UK.
Of course, you are welcome to volunteer in a new shift, location or a different role if we have space available.
Please contact us on the email below: ccvolunteering@crisis.org.uk or give us a call on 0203 745 4004.
It’s great that you want to support us this Christmas! There are lots of opportunities to support us through fundraising or campaigning work. To find out more, click on our Other ways to support buttons below or visit the Crisis at Christmas webpage.
We ask for all donations to be brought to our warehouse as part of our Community Donations so that we can equally distribute items to make sure every centre has what it needs.
Our warehouse in Canning Town will be open to receive Community Donations.
We ask primarily, for all donations to be brought to our Canning Town warehouse as part of our Community Donations Drive, between the 10th and 12th of December from 10am to 4pm. This enables us to distribute items fairly, helping to equally meet the needs of every centre in London.
To understand what items are most needed, or for any other queries related to physical donations, from early October please see our Christmas wishlist.
Gifts can also be bought (and delivered directly to us) from our online Wishlist - https://amzn.eu/64yik0R
If you’re feeling unwell, please don’t volunteer until you’re feeling better.
We prioritise the health and wellbeing of our guests, volunteers and staff. If you arrive for a shift with symptoms of illness, you may be asked to leave.
You can cancel your shift in MCV or let us know by email ccvolunteering@crisis.org.uk or give us a call on 0203 745 4004
We have volunteering opportunities that come up year-round and are advertised on our volunteering webpage.
StreetLink exists to help end rough sleeping by enabling members of the public to connect people sleeping rough with the local services that can support them. Visit the StreetLink website to help someone you believe is sleeping rough or call them on 0300 500 0914.
There’s more than one way to make a difference this Christmas. If you can’t volunteer with us, your donation, event participation, or fundraising support can help change lives and end homelessness for good.
