FAQ

Helping people who are homeless

  • I have seen someone sleeping rough – how can I help them?
  • Someone on the street asked me for money for the shelter. Do you charge for your shelter?
  • Do you run an all-year-round shelter?

Can I help at Christmas and other seasonal questions

  • What do Wycombe Homeless Connection during winter and at Christmas? 
  • Can I volunteer for Wycombe Homeless Connection over Christmas?
  • I/we want to do something for people who are homeless this Christmas – what can I do? 
  • What activities are happening locally over Christmas and are there any other volunteering opportunities?

Donating to Wycombe Homeless Connection

  • Donating goods like clothes, food and more.

Donating money

  • Donating money

Volunteering

  • Can I volunteer for Wycombe Homeless Connection?

Helping people who are homeless

I have seen someone sleeping rough – how can I help them?

If you see someone you think is under 18, or is an adult in immediate danger or needing urgent medical care call 999.

If you are concerned about an adult you have seen sleeping rough, please contact Streetlink via their website. They are a national organisation that gathers and passes on timely and accurate information to local groups like us about people who are sleeping rough so that the person can be offered support.

Visit the Streetlink website to help connect a person sleeping rough to local services. Or you can contact us.


Someone on the street asked me for money for the shelter. Do you charge for your shelter? And should I give them money?

All local emergency accommodation for people who are found to be homeless is free; there is no charge at all, no nightly fees or deposits.

If someone asks you for money for a shelter place, please put them in contact with us as soon as possible. 

You should contact Streetlink via their website. They are a national organisation that gathers and passes on timely and accurate information to local groups like us about people who are sleeping rough so that the person can be offered support. Or you can contact us.

Do you run an all-year round shelter? 

While we don't have a permanent shelter of our own, we provide a range of emergency accommodation options throughout the year, available for people who are at especially high risk of harm from sleeping on the streets.

We will also help people access other local and suitable emergency accommodation that is available. 

We ensure that there is extra provision during the winter or in extremely hot weather when the risk to anyone sleeping on the streets goes up.

However, there are simply not enough places for everyone who becomes street homeless, and there aren't enough affordable and safe homes for people to move in to. This is a huge challenge. 

Why don't we run an all-year round shelter? At its best a permanent night shelter is a temporary solution to homelessness and sometimes can be a stepping stone to more permanent accommodation. Sadly, they are more often places where people can become stuck. As a local charity wanting to have a big impact, we have chosen to focus as much of our resources as possible on both homelessness prevention and providing support to help homeless people access suitable long-term accommodation. We believe this is how we do the best for the people we serve. 


Can I help at Christmas and other seasonal questions 


What do Wycombe Homeless Connection during winter and at Christmas?

Christmas is a time when lots of groups put on extra help are available for people who are homeless. National and local groups run events like Crisis at Christmas, or the St Andrew’s Church Christmas meal.

Because of this, we don’t usually run extra services ta Christmas so that we can continue to focus on doing the vital work we need to do during the coldest months which includes…

  • Providing extra emergency accommodation during the winter
  • Giving out emergency provisions like food, clothing and sleeping bags to people who need them. We do to them up with treats at Christmas. You can see our list of needs here.
  • Offering support and advice to ensure people don't lose their homes, or can get into suitable homes through our support centre, helpline and other drop-ins in Wycombe and Chesham.
  • We run Plug-In sessions where people who are street homeless can get hot food, do laundry, get a shower, use the internet, have conversation and find help and hope.


Can I volunteer for Wycombe Homeless Connection over Christmas?

We work with vulnerable people so our volunteers who work with our clients generally need to be highly trained. Therefore, there are only a very few opportunities to volunteer for us just at Christmas but thank you so much for thinking of us.

We do need volunteers to help us deliver our services and support the charity. Sign up for our emails to hear about opportunities and look at our Volunteering page for current vacancies.

Other local groups may be looking for volunteers (see below).

I/we want to do something for people who are homeless this Christmas – what can I do?

If you want to do something practical for Wycombe Homeless Connection, we would love you to raise money to ensure our homelessness help and prevention work can continue all year round.

Also, please try contacting the organisations who are running events over the Christmas/winter period and see if they need help – list below.

If you are an organisation running an event let us know and we can add you to the list.

What activities are happening locally over Christmas and are there any other volunteering opportunities?

Here are some local activities taking place over Christmas. The groups may still need volunteers so please contact them directly.

If you would like us to list your activity here, get in touch.

St Andrew’s Church, Hatters Lane, High Wycombe run a Christmas Day meal and everyone is welcome. They may still need volunteers.

Hope Community Seventh Day Adventist Church, Chapel Lane, High Wycombe are doing a Christmas lunch on Christmas Eve and home deliveries on Christmas day.

Booking is required by Friday 1 December

  • contact christmas@hopesda.org.uk

Donating material items to Wycombe Homeless Connection


Can I donate clothing/food/other items to you? What do you need?

Thank you! We ask for certain items, in certain sizes when we need them so we can give people who need items what fits and what is needed.

We frequently update our Giving Goods page. Have a look there for what our current needs are. 

Donating money

Please see our donation page for all the ways you can give money to Wycombe Homeless Connection: How to donate.

Volunteering

Can I volunteer for Wycombe Homeless Connection?

We have a variety of volunteering roles. Follow us on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or sign up on our website for our newsletter (link at bottom of page) to stay in touch to hear about opportunities. Our volunteer opportunities are listed on our website and are updated regularly.

Share this page