More families are becoming homeless and our challenge ever greater
Over the last year we’ve all experienced the cost-of-living crisis, but for Britain’s most vulnerable communities there is the additional threat of homelessness. The latest official figures for the end of 2023 updated this April* make for sombre and distressing reading. Over 44,760 households were homeless, and 34,200 under threat of homelessness. 112,660 households were in temporary accommodation and 71,280 of these included children.
All these figures showed significant increases. The bare statistics mask the sad human stories – poverty, bereavement, addiction, or poor health. Whatever the underlying triggers, for the thousands of individuals we meet, often a few hundred pounds stands between them and a stable, permanent home. The VRF has two principal objectives in its grant making. To enable access to housing through timely deposit contributions, and to reduce the number of evictions caused by nominal rent arrears. Without the VRF, and your support, official figures
would be significantly worse, and many more lives shattered.
St Martin’s Charity VRF is one of the most practical ways of reducing homelessness. The VRF provides emergency small grants for rental deposits or nominal rental arrears for vulnerable people. Without this VRF support many would be homeless. The grants are issued with the minimum bureaucracy and at a speed that reflects the urgency. Demand is increasingly exponentially. In the last year alone we made thousands of grants of up to £500, helping individuals and families. Without your support this simply would not be possible. Please donate and help unlock access to 1,000’s of safe, stable homes.