BASW raises over £700 for homeless shelters across the UK

BASW is delighted to announce that members, staff and the wider social work community have raised over £700 for homeless shelters across the UK through our Christmas eCard scheme.

The scheme offered members and staff the opportunity to support homeless people over the festive period via purchasing an electronic Christmas card.

The money donated has been shared between shelters situated where BASW’s four regional offices are based in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

These include Birmingham Shelter, Cross Reach in Edinburgh, The Welcome Organisation in Belfast and the Huggard Centre in Cardiff.

“I am delighted BASW members, staff and the wider social worker community took the opportunity to support homeless shelters through the eCard offer,” said Ruth Allen, chief executive at BASW.

“Homelessness is on the increase with conservative estimates showing 1 in 200 people across Britain are now homeless, with the actual number likely to be higher.”

She added: “As an organisation representing a workforce that supports and helps homeless people, we will continue to work with partner organisations and homeless charities to raise awareness and campaign for better and more humane solutions to the growing issue of homelessness.”

BASW is currently challenging austerity policies and rising poverty levels through our anti-austerity campaign, while our in-house magazine Professional Social Work has focussed on homelessness and poverty in its festive editions.  

Sandra Moore, chief executive of The Welcome Organisation, commented: “We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone at BASW, we couldn’t deliver the level of service we do for people affected by homelessness without the support from the public and groups like BASW. The money raised from this appeal will go directly towards our services for people affected by homelessness."