From Homeless to Home: World Homeless Day 2025
Everyone deserves a safe place to live and call home.
That’s why today, World Homeless Day, we are launching our Homeless to Home campaign – aiming to raise £183,471 to help turn a disused lace factory in Nottingham into 20 self-contained homes for men who have experienced homelessness or rough sleeping.
The need to provide this accommodation is as urgent as ever, with the level of rough sleeping rising by 5% across the UK in the year to March 2025.
The building of Lee House is part of our ongoing commitment to meet the challenge of increasing homelessness. For the past four years, with the generous help of our supporters, our Building Better Futures campaign has raised nearly £3m and created almost 200 new, purpose-built homes for homeless people across the East Midlands.
However Building Better Futures isn’t just about putting a roof over someone’s head: we support people to lay the foundations for a sustainable, secure, and successful future.
This process is often the result of small steps and unexpected changes that most of us would take for granted.
“Now I’ve got my own flat my favourite thing is to put music on. It’s given me my identity back and reminded me who I am.” – Sarah
We also recognise that people have different needs. That’s why Lee House, with funding from the government’s Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme and Nottingham City Council, is specifically designed for homeless men who are survivors of trauma or multiple disadvantage.
With trained staff on site 24/7, Lee House will offer the specialist support that residents need, helping them overcome issues that contributed to their homelessness and empowering them to create the life they deserve.
Claire Eden, our Head of Fundraising and Communications, explains how important it is to support men in this way: “Shame and stigma often contribute to men suffering in silence. Many struggle alone. By the time they access our services, most men have been rough sleeping for months, sometimes years. They are entrenched in the lifestyle and carry an enormous backlog of trauma.
“With the proper housing and support, men can and do recover from homelessness. We want to provide a home where they can find stability, receive wraparound support for their mental health needs and substance use issues, and find their confidence again.”
So far we have raised an incredible £2,816,528 to help build nearly 200 homes. Raising a further £183,471 this winter will enable us to open the doors of Lee House to homeless men in the greatest need.
This World Homeless Day, please help to give someone a home and the opportunity to enjoy the simple pleasures most of us take for granted. If you can, donate to our Homeless to Home Campaign here.