Recession raises vehicle shortage fears for homeless people this Christmas
12 November 2009
Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, has warned that it faces a shortage of vehicles vital to the running of its Crisis Christmas centres this year due to the effects of the recession on donor companies.
Crisis Christmas runs from Wednesday 23 December to Wednesday 30 December 2009 and welcomes nearly 2,000 homeless and vulnerably housed guests and over 8,000 volunteers in nine centres across London. The centres provide companionship and support to alleviate loneliness and isolation and help people to take their first steps out of homelessness.
To help transport people and equipment, the Charity relies on temporary donations of minibuses and vans. However since last Christmas companies that normally donate have gone out of business or reduced the size of their fleets.
Leslie Morphy, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: "Crisis Christmas is a huge operation that would not be possible without the extraordinary generosity of individuals and businesses. This year we understand that things are particularly tight due to the effects of the recession, and we are finding it particularly difficult to source enough vehicles vital in delivering goods and people.
"We are calling on vehicle manufactures, hire firms or companies with large fleets of vehicles to step in and help us help thousands of homeless guests this Christmas."
Crisis returns all loaned vehicles in the condition they were donated in. Crisis is calling for:
- Transit and Luton vans from 1 to 31 December
- Cars, minibuses and people carriers from 21 to 31 December
To donate vehicles please contact Francesca D'Souza on 020 7426 3821
For further media information, please contact Garry Lemon on 020 7426 3880 or 07973 372 587or phil.power@crisis.org.uk
Notes to Editors
Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people. We are dedicated to ending homelessness by delivering life-changing services and campaigning for change. Our innovative education, employment, housing and well-being services address individual needs and help homeless people to transform their lives. We measure our success and can demonstrate tangible results and value for money. We are determined campaigners, working to prevent people from becoming homeless and advocating solutions informed by research and our direct experience. We have ambitious plans for the future and are committed to help more people in more places across the UK. We know we won't end homelessness overnight or on our own. But we take a lead, collaborate with others and together make change happen.
At Christmas we provide companionship and support to alleviate loneliness and isolation and help people to take their first steps out of homelessness.
We welcome nearly 2000 guests in nine centres across London. Our residential centres provide accommodation for rough sleepers, and people with specific needs such as women and those with dependency issues.
For the vulnerably housed, we run specialist day centres, which are based in schools and colleges, providing an inspirational environment. Across all our centres guests can benefit from 20 different services, learning opportunities, vital medical help, housing and job advice.
We link our guests up to year-round services and encourage them to come to Crisis services in the New Year so we can continue to provide opportunities that will help them transform their lives.
With over 8000 volunteers, Crisis Christmas is the largest volunteer led event in the UK.
