Welcome to our 2024-25 annual report.
Amid rising homelessness and against a stubbornly difficult economic backdrop, Crisis continues to make an impact against the odds. This year we’ve taken new, bold actions that are yielding encouraging results and we’re spearheading new strategies for tackling homelessness. For the first time in Crisis’ nearly 60-year history, we’ll become a direct housing provider, offering safe, settled homes for some of our members, starting in London and Newcastle. Then there’s our influencing work, where we have had the opportunity to shape government strategy and push through transformative legislation in England, Scotland, and Wales.
The financial environment we’re operating in continues to be challenging, but our mission remains unchanged. An end to homelessness is possible – together, we’ll bring it closer.
Matt Downie, CEO
Dame Tristia Harrison, Chair of the Board of Trustees
5500
people supported over Christmas
6000
volunteers generously supported us all year round in our shops, our services and more
5068
people received intensive one-to-one support
9189
people were helped through our specialist resources and advice
12000
new people signed up to join our campaigning work
905
people were supported to learn essential skills on everything from jobs to managing tenancies
“We went through a hard time in South Africa. There was a lot of violence, there was a lot of corruption. It was not safe for my son.”
After they moved back to the UK from South Africa, 56-year-old Julie and her 16-year-old son were put into temporary accommodation. It was tough for both of them.
Julie lives with several health problems, including diabetes. She finds it difficult to get around. Despite this they were forced to share a room with no cooking facilities, not even a toaster. This meant preparing healthy food was impossible – making her health problems worse.
Julie was born in the UK and has a British passport. But because she wasn’t a ‘habitual resident’, she couldn’t get the support she urgently needed to move into more secure housing. And that’s when we met her.
“If it wasn’t for Crisis pushing, we wouldn’t be here. They give you a voice. They do. They listen.”
We helped Julie successfully push back against the government’s decision and provide one-to-one emotional and practical support.
This included helping her access essential services and claiming a mobility scooter from the Changing Lives Fund – her first step to getting a job.
Today Julie and her son are comfortable in their new social home, complete with Shadow, their family dog. This safe, decent home means the world to them.
“Home for health is so important. Because your stress is gone, like you know that tomorrow you’re going to be warm. You’re going to be fine. In your own home, you feel so proud.”
This year, we worked with Governments across England, Scotland and Wales to change laws around homelessness in each nation.
From shaping policies to chairing advisory boards, Crisis played a key role in changing the homelessness agenda.
People with lived experience of homelessness generously shared their stories and co-produced artwork shown at the heart of Parliament.
Our campaigners also wrote to MPs, MSPs and MSs calling for effective action and lasting change, and we celebrated some exciting wins.
After pushing hard for The Housing (Scotland) Bill to become law it was amazing to see it clearing its final hurdle in September and it will become law no later than 2028. The new homeless prevention laws contained in the Bill hold the potential to help build one of the most progressive homelessness systems in the world. We’ve been calling for changes to the law for a long time and strongly support the parts aimed at ending homelessness. For example, making sure people get help at least six months before they’re at risk of losing their home.
This year, our services have had to adapt to tough times, with homelessness on the rise and genuinely affordable homes becoming harder to access.
But we adapted to meet the need, supporting 9,189 people to take their first steps out of homelessness this year, including 5,500 people at Christmas.
Our services are designed to address the growing need for support including our refugee service in Brent and focusing on women’s homelessness in Newcastle
For refugees to the UK, finding a safe, secure home is the foundation of establishing their place in the community and thriving in the future. Yet for many, the barriers to a home are huge.
That’s why in August 2023 we launched our refugee service in the London borough of Brent. It was our response to rising homelessness and destitution in one of the capital’s most deprived areas. Our work focuses on providing specialist one-to-one support for refugees to help them secure long-term housing, training and employment.
Up to June 2025 we’ve supported 290 refugees to secure stable housing. Nearly three-quarters (74%) kept their tenancies for at least eight months.
Aim 3: building a community of people across Britain helping to end homelessness This year, we have continued to work with likeminded organisations and businesses committed to ending homelessness. Our Homelessness Alliance network grew to nearly 70 allies, reaching 1.2 million employees, and continued to embed lived experience at its core.
We also continued to use Built for Zero this year, and saw it help the local authority in Calderdale significantly reduce their reliance on temporary accommodation.
And alongside Pathway, we have worked to ensure people facing homelessness get the healthcare they need. Together we campaigned, calling on the government to put healthcare for people facing homelessness at the heart of tackling the health and housing crisis.
Built for Zero is a proven place-based approach to ending homelessness. We’re now using it alongside five local councils: Brent, Bradford, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Calderdale and Oxford.
This effective approach aims to solve homelessness for one group of people at a time until the whole system changes and homelessness has been ended in that place. This means bringing different partners together to create a shared vision of what ending homelessness looks like in their area.
This year our work in Calderdale has helped the local authority significantly reduce their reliance on expensive temporary accommodation (‘TA’). Over one year we’ve seen a 33% decrease in the number of households in temporary accommodation and a 35% decrease in the number of children in TA across the same time period. This has saved money but also improved the lives of people who were trapped in B&Bs for too long.
Thank you to all our amazing volunteers. Your hard work and determination drive everything we do.
We’re delighted that today there are more of you than ever before. Over 6,150 people gave the gift of time to end homelessness this year, and 1,022 volunteers helped run our shops this year.
Our Crisis at Christmas community is over 3,500-strong. It’s full of people who run our Christmas services, take action to support our campaigns, and together raised over £70,000 through sponsorship.
Over the year we’ve been testing out a new Crisis Community Advocate role with our partners Lloyds Banking Group. It’s been a huge success. Today 100 colleagues at Lloyds are trained up and ready to speak to their networks about ending homelessness. We’re doing more testing in early 2026 with Lloyds volunteers and launching the role with our Homelessness Alliance partners.
