Centrepoint

Sleep Out is back! Our flagship fundraising event is now just around the corner – but it’s not too late to sign up! We’re asking you to swap your bed for a sleeping bag for one night only and by doing so, help us to raise vital funds for vulnerable young people across the country.   On 14 November, at the iconic Oval Cricket ground, we’ll be hosting an evening of talks and informative activities to raise awareness of youth homelessness, and then at 11pm the true challenge will begin.   If you or your company want to take part, register here: https://bit.ly/4fowWfR

Aimee became homeless during her studies, but now she's living in her own home, working to support others and following her music dreams too. She's amazing, inspiring, unstoppable - and that's why she's a Centrepoint Awards winner. 🧡 Nationwide Building Society

“An unjust benefit system that disincentivises work and tempers ambition is a broken system. On 30 October you have a chance to fix it.” Nationwide Building Society, Coventry Building Society and The Co-operative Bank plc join our campaign to Make Work Pay. Read their letter to the Treasury.

Andrew was a resident in one of our Independent Living Properties, where he was able to thrive and finish his apprenticeship. He's a leader, determined and engaged - and an amazing advocate for other homeless young people. He recently won a Centrepoint Award. 🧡 Nationwide Building Society

Wow, what a night at the Centrepoint Awards, where we were shining a light on the incredible resilience of young people who have overcome homelessness to achieve extraordinary success!   We were delighted to be joined by our Patron, as well as so many ambassadors, partners, supporters and performers to celebrate our finalists and winners, and come together to take one step closer to ensuring every young person has a safe place to call home.   Thank you to Nationwide Building Society for sponsoring the event! 🧡   Thank you to our Global Ambassador Debra Reuben and the Reuben Foundation.

As the #Planfor136k Collective, we’ve come together to urge Chancellor Rachel Reeves to end the benefit trap that homeless young people face when entering work. With the support of over 140 youth, homelessness, and housing association organisations, we’re making it clear: a policy shift to Make Work Pay in the October Budget is crucial for empowering homeless young people to secure meaningful employment to help reach their full potential. Read the open letter: https://bit.ly/3Ybc3NU

A huge thank you to Victoria Hamilton, who has raised over an incredible £2,800 for Centrepoint by running the Chester Marathon this weekend! Victoria is Director of Member Contact at Nationwide Building Society, who we launched our fantastic partnership with earlier this year, as part of their Fairer Futures programme. Victoria tells us why she decided to take on this challenge for Centrepoint: “In terms of why Centrepoint, I have a 16 year old daughter and couldn’t help but compare the foundational support she has in place and takes for granted in life – a warm, safe home; home cooked meals and a loving family vs some of the real challenges some of the young people you support have to face every day. Despite all of this, she has still faced some trials and tribulations through her teenage years. But at least she’s always had a place called home to return to. I couldn’t imagine how tough life would be without all these factors so many of us take for granted. I found the real life stories you shared with us at our kick off immersive event for Fairer Futures to be really shocking and humbling – but also really inspiring and uplifting to see the life redirection offered by Centrepoint - and I just felt a real personal ‘call to action’. I had already signed up for the Chester marathon in January and had no plans to do it for charity. But after attending this event I thought I am doing it anyway, so I might as well see if I can raise some funds. I set a very conservative initial target of £500 which I exceeded within 14 hours – and then I just kept increasing my target by £500. I have raised just shy of £3000 including the £100 fund matching from Nationwide. My marathon didn’t go according to plan. Sickness, cramping, dizziness. Just horrid. I’m 100% certain that had I not committed to running it for Centrepoint I’d have chucked in the towel. But when you run for a cause bigger than yourself, your commitment to cross the finish line takes on a different level of grit and determination.”   If you feel inspired and you’d like to get involved, you can: Donate to Victoria’s fundraising page: https://bit.ly/4eBcpV7 Take on your own challenge: https://bit.ly/4eYFE3U Congratulations on an amazing achievement, Victoria – and thank you for making a vital difference to support our work to end youth homelessness.

Last year, a record of 136,000 young people faced homelessness. Meet Aimee: a rapper, aspiring solicitor and young person living with cerebral palsy. Aimee has written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves asking her to change the benefit rules to Make Work Pay, so vulnerable young people aren’t penalised for working more hours. This World Homeless Day, we want the outdated benefit rules that are unnecessarily trapping young people to end. But we need your help to make sure the Chancellor listens. Add your name and show Aimee we join her call for a fairer benefit system: https://bit.ly/3XZzN7N

Hundreds of homeless young people are being illegally turned away by councils. Decades of underfunding from central government have forced many councils to make impossible decisions around who gets what support. The new government must urgently address this.

Hundreds of homeless young people are being illegally turned away by councils. Decades of underfunding from central government have forced many councils to make impossible decisions around who gets what support. The new government must urgently address this.