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?
- What is your winter night shelter and how can I help?
Donating to Wycombe Homeless Connection
- Donating goods like clothes, food and more.
Donating money
- Donating money
Volunteering
- Can I volunteer for Wycombe Homeless Connection?
- Can we volunteer this Christmas?
- Individual or corporate group looking for a one-off volunteering opportunity - can you help at 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 an emergency or shelter place, please put them in contact with us as soon as possible.
You should also 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.
What is your winter night shelter and can I help?
We run a winter night shelter when needed. Our shelter will be open in January, February and March 2025. People who are sleeping on the street, extremely vulnerable and have no other options will be offered a place during the bleakest months. Find out including how to volunteer, donate and support the shelter. Click here to find out more.
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, including our own winter night shelter when needed. These are 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 from the council and other providers.
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 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.
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.
We are currently looking for volunteers for our winter night shelter. Click here to find out more.
Christmas and winter volunteering
Our goal is the people we serve will be in emergency accommodation and then our shelter before, during and after Christmas. Our focus is always on getting people off the street and into suitable accommodation as quickly as possible. That means we don't have soup runs or need to go out on the streets at Christmas unless it is to help anyone newly homeless to get into the accommodation which our staff team do.
To make Christmas special, we link the people we serve with amazing local organisations who host Christmas day lunches, hand out gift packs and provide food parcels, so they've got that covered - it takes a community to change lives!
St Andrews Church, Hatters Lane are hosting their annual Christmas Day lunch for the community. Please contact them directly if you'd like to help.
BUT, there ways to get involved at WHC this Christmas. Look at our volunteer opportunities page - we need you to help at fundraising events, decorate Christmas trees and share the news about the work we do and more.
You don't need to register as a WHC volunteer to take part so it is great for groups and individuals who want to help at this time of year for a few hours or more.
NB: There aren't often opportunities to work directly with the people we serve. Our volunteers have to go through lots of training in order to directly support clients to help maintain their privacy and confidentiality.
Individual or corporate group looking for a one-off volunteering opportunity - can you help at Wycombe Homeless Connection?
We are currently looking for volunteers for our winter night shelter. Click here to find out more. We will be putting more opportunities online shortly so please check back.
Our goal is the people we serve will be in emergency accommodation and then our shelter before, during and after Christmas. Our focus is always on getting people off the street and into suitable accommodation as quickly as possible. That means we don't have soup runs or need to go out on the streets at Christmas unless it is to help anyone newly homeless to get into the accommodation which our staff team do.
To make Christmas special, we link the people we serve with amazing local organisations who host Christmas day lunches, hand out gift packs and provide food parcels, so they've got that covered - it takes a community to change lives!
BUT, there ways to get involved at WHC this Christmas. Look at our volunteer opportunities page - we need you to help at fundraising events, decorate Christmas trees and share the news about the work we do and more.
You don't need to register as a WHC volunteer to take part so it is great for groups and individuals who want to help at this time of year for a few hours or more.
NB: There aren't often opportunities to work directly with the people we serve. Our volunteers have to go through lots of training in order to directly support clients to help maintain their privacy and confidentiality.