Safe Housing United Kingdom Project #52704

Help St Mungo's to end rough sleeping by 2026

by St Mungo's

Help St Mungo's to end rough sleeping by 2026

Project Report | Sep 9, 2025
Helping St Mungo's end rough sleeping by 2026

By Stephen Crago | Corporate Partnership Assistant

As the crisis deepens, we want to thank you for supporting St Mungo’s. Between 2023 and 2024, 324,990 households were at risk of homelessness, a sobering reminder of how urgent this issue has become. With your generosity, we have been able to provide life-changing services that help people recover, rebuild, and move forward with dignity.

This year we have achieved the following:

Over the past year, St Mungo’s supported 26,012 people across 138 services, ranging from accommodation and recovery programmes to specialist outreach.
Our 14 outreach teams directly helped 10,240 people on the streets, and on any given night.
an average of 2,183 individuals had safe housing and tailored support thanks to you.

Davids Story

Behind these figures are powerful individual journeys. David, who became homeless after his family home was destroyed in a flood, spent years enduring hardship on the streets. With St Mungo’s support, he received counselling, food vouchers, and help managing debt. Today, he is focusing on his studies and beginning to rebuild his life. This is a clear example of how compassion and practical support can transform lives.

As Emma Haddad, Chief Executive of St Mungo’s, explains:

“Our frontline teams are working round the clock to get people into emergency housing and then supporting them to survive and thrive in their own accommodation. Affordable housing is just one part of a much broader solution; we also need to see a homelessness and healthcare system working in tandem, so that more people are empowered to leave homelessness behind them and fewer people fall back into it.”

Looking Ahead

Homelessness is rising, with government figures showing a 20% increase in people sleeping rough compared to last year. The cost-of-living crisis, a shortage of affordable housing, and stretched public services mean our work has never been more urgent. In the months ahead, we will continue calling for long-term solutions while ensuring our frontline teams remain out on the streets every day, offering life-saving support.

With your continued generosity, we can reach more people before it’s too late and move closer to our shared goal of ending rough sleeping by 2026. Thank you for standing with us.

Links:

David's Story

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Apr 8, 2025
Helping St Mungo's end rough sleeping by 2026

By Victoria Linney | Corporate Partnerships Coordinator

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who generously donated to the "Help St Mungo's End Rough Sleeping by 2026" campaign. Thanks to your contributions, we are one step closer to achieving our goal of ending homelessness.

As the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to rise (up 27% in 2024 alone), donations from people like you play an increasingly vital role in helping individuals recover and rebuild their lives.

In the past year, St Mungo’s has been able to achieve the following:

• We provided support to 28,359 people who were homeless or at risk of homelessness across 161 different services, including our dedicated outreach, accommodation, and recovery services.

• 7,274 people were supported by our outreach teams.

• An average of 2,735 people were provided with housing and support on any given night.

• 89 clients were supported into paid employment.

However, despite this progress, our work is more important than ever before. Homelessness is a growing crisis in the UK, and new statistics released by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government show that 4,667 people slept on the streets in England on a snapshot night in autumn 2024, a 20% increase from the autumn 2023 total of 3,898.

Emma Haddad, Chief Executive of St Mungo’s, said:

“This latest rise in figures shows homelessness is closer to home than we think. St Mungo’s frontline teams see the real impact of this ongoing crisis every day, with more and more people being pushed onto the streets and needing our help. We can see statutory services struggling and buckling under the pressures these numbers create. We know the longer it takes to provide people with the support they need, the more complex their support needs become. Early intervention is vital to break this heartbreaking cycle.”

Deon’s Story

In March, St Mungo’s celebrated International Women’s Day and used the campaign to raise awareness of the unique and often traumatic challenges women face when experiencing homelessness. At St Mungo’s, we run women’s creative groups, which allow female clients like Deon to feel safe within their recovery from homelessness and use creativity to find their spark in life again.

Creativity can be a vital tool in processing what clients have been through and are still going through. It can also offer space to reflect, provide escapism, and offer the opportunity to express themselves, helping to rebuild confidence and self-esteem.

Deon has experienced first-hand the difference creativity makes. She became homeless after being unexpectedly evicted. After an extremely difficult time and several challenging housing situations, Deon was admitted to a psychiatric unit. Throughout her recovery with St Mungo's, she discovered that creative pursuits helped her:

“I paint, and my main love is ceramics – I’m studying for a qualification in that at the moment. I'll try anything and see if it sticks. If it makes me feel calm and time melts away, then I’m happy.”

Creativity has transformed Deon’s life in more ways than one. What started as a hobby and meditative practice is now her career. She now runs art workshops and has designed her own course through contacts she built through St Mungo’s.

So far in 2025, your donations have helped us continue our vital services to transform the lives of people like Deon, and we look forward to working together in the future.

Thank you.

Links:

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Dec 12, 2024
Winter update from St Mungo's

By Justyna Traczyk | Corporate Partnerships Executive

As the year draws to a close we wanted to say a big thank you to all supporting St Mungo’s. Winter is the most difficult time of year for people sleeping rough, with nights drawing in earlier, freezing temperatures and a strong chance of rain. Our work doesn’t stop after Christmas, with frontline teams out on the streets, supporting people 365 days a year.

In total during the period July – September 2024 outreach teams recorded 4780 individuals sleeping rough in London. This is a 18% increase on the total figure for July-September 2023. Of that total:

new rough sleepers account for 49% of all rough sleepers
intermittent rough sleepers account for 38% of all those recorded in the period, and
14% of those recorded during the period were living on the streets.

We unfortunately expect these numbers to continue raising and therefore your support is needed more than ever.

However we are able to report on the below updates and achievements at St Mungo’s:

Government announces emergency fund for rough sleepers

In November, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan visited one of St Mungo’s services to discuss the launch of a £2.7 million emergency fund for London’s rough sleepers, part of a £10 million national package for winter support.

The funding will provide rough sleepers with access to safe, warm beds during the harshest months, helping to save lives as sub-zero temperatures pose serious risks.

St Mungo’s CEO, Emma Haddad, welcomed the announcement but highlighted the need for sustainable solutions:

“Our outreach teams are literally saving lives during the winter, but we need more than just sticking plaster solutions. To truly end homelessness, we require sustainable funding and coordinated efforts across health, housing, and employment.”

This funding builds on the Government’s pledge of £233 million in the recent Budget to tackle homelessness. St Mungo’s remains on the frontline, calling for lasting solutions to address this urgent crisis.

Now is time to respond

We have a brand new advert out on TV this winter — a call for urgent support to keep St Mungo’s on the frontline, providing life-saving help to people sleeping rough.

The cost of living crisis, housing shortages and strained public services are driving more people into homelessness. The rapid rise in rough sleeping is putting immense pressure on our workers but with your support, we can continue to reach those in need before it’s too late.

By sharing the stark realities of homelessness, we hope to inspire more people to take action and help us make a lasting difference.

St Mungo’s Annual Impact Report

Our 2023-24 Annual Impact Report is now available, highlighting the impact of our work and sharing inspiring client stories.

Over the past year, we supported 23,827 people experiencing homelessness, with 3,898 recorded as sleeping rough on a single night—a 27% increase from 2022. These figures emphasise the urgent need for action.

We are deeply grateful for the continued support of like you, which makes our work to end homelessness and transform lives possible.

Thank you

Thank you so much for your continued support of our work!

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