A nine-year-old girl from Oxford decided she wanted to do some fundraising for national homelessness charity Crisis this Christmas, to help people experiencing homelessness have hot meals and a safe place to stay over the holidays.  

Delilah Battle is doing four litter picks in November and December to clean up the community whilst helping to raise money for Crisis who support people facing homelessness across the country at Christmas and year-round.  

The charity has a centre in Oxford itself, which has helped thousands of people rebuild their lives and leave homelessness behind for good since opening 10 years ago. Delilah’s money raised will help Crisis to support people facing homelessness to access their year-round services in Oxford and other areas across the country. This includes helping people with things like finding and applying for work, finding a home, and setting them up for this and ongoing health and wellbeing support.   

Delilah’s grandmother and mother have been supporting Delilah’s fundraising, but Delilah has been the main driving force behind it.  

Delilah’s mum, said: ‘Delilah chose Crisis because she finds it upsetting seeing homeless people on the streets, and Crisis seemed like the perfect charity to support to help make a difference to people at Christmas. Doing the litter picking also meant that she could tidy the local community too, so it was win win!’ 

Kate Cocker, the Director of Crisis Skylight Oxford said: “Delilah’s support is incredibly heart-warming and much appreciated to help support our work to help people facing homelessness here in Oxford and in other areas across the country. Delilah’s efforts also represent just how we can look after each other in our society.  

“Everyone deserves a safe and stable home to help then thrive and build their lives, but this simply isn’t the case for many people at the moment. At Crisis, we know that ending homelessness for good across the country really is within our reach. 

“This will only be made possible through efforts like Delilah’s though, which is why we are so grateful to have her on board to help people facing homelessness now and end it for good in the future.”  

Delilah has already raised £730 which you can boost by sponsoring her here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Delilah-Battle