Christmas is a time of fun, festivities and food. As you start planning celebrations, it can be hard to imagine how it feels to not have a roof over your head as the temperature drops below freezing.

But for the hundreds of thousands of people experiencing homelessness, Christmas is just another day spent trying to survive without secure housing.

It's very hard to quantify how many people are currently facing or at risk of homelessness in the UK. Firstly, there are many different types of homelessness. Most people associate homeless with rough sleeping, but it also refers to people who are stuck in temporary accommodation or hostels and shelters.

Also, not all homelessness is visible. The 'hidden homeless' are people who sofa surfacing, and may not even see themselves as homeless.

We don't yet know the extent to which Covid-19 pandemic has impacted homelessness, but The Big Issue warns that we are on the edge of a 'mass homelessness crisis', citing factors such as increasing rate of evictions and repossessions, rising energy price cap , the £20 Universal Credit cut and the end of the furlough scheme.

Meanwhile, the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint has warned that the number of young homeless people in England this Christmas could reach a five-year high.

Given the scale of the homelessness crisis in the UK, it's easy to feel powerless to help. There are, however, things you can do to help someone this Christmas.

Be nice

A woman walks past tents occupied by the homeless
A woman walks past tents occupied by the homeless

Day to day, the simplest thing you can do is ask a rough sleeper how they are. It's not going to change their situation, but it can help people feel less lonely, at least for a little. Greeting rough sleepers with a hello or a smile or stopping for a chat can go a long way to making people feel seen and valued, when they are often ignored.

Donate money

Giving money to homeless people is a highly contested topic. Some argue that it is best to give money straight to homeless people, as some of the money given to charity goes on admin costs. Others believe that giving money directly to people you come across can fuel destructive cycles, and funding charities is the best way to help provide long term support for people facing homelessness.

Where you donate your money is up to you. Have a look at St Mungo's , Centrepoint Homeless Charity, Shelter , The Salvation Army , Crisis , Help the Homeless , and consider buying an issue of, or subscription to, The Big Issue, where 50% of the price of a mag goes directly to the seller.

Each Christmas, Crisis pushes their efforts to provide safety and services for people facing homelessness. Donating £29.06 can help provide those in need with a safe place to stay, hot meals and a Christmas dinner, companionship from volunteers and year-round support including training and education.

You can also look beyond the bigger charities.

For instance, North East Homeless will be out on Christmas Eve providing warm Christmas dinners to vulnerable people, while the People's Kitchens' annual “Feed a Friend for a Fiver” Christmas Campaign is underway.

Donate anything else

Money isn't the only thing you can donate. Crisis has put together a 'wishlist' for each major city, including Newcastle. Due to COVID restrictions, their in-person events have to be scaled back, but they are still delivering hot meals and gift hampers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and on boxing day people can sit down for a hot meal at the new Crisis venue in Newcastle City Centre.

To help them deliver on this, and to also deliver wellbeing packs, put on cookery class, and host zoom socials, the charity is calling for specific donations. You can check the full list here .

Why not try 'reverse advent calendar' where instead of getting a gift each day, you give something away each day that you no longer need? Add food, old clothes and other bits and bobs to a box and at the end of the month, you can make a substantial donation to a charity or food bank.

Engage with local charities

While donating supplies can support a person in the moment, it doesn't address the problem.

The charity Street Zero aims to end rough sleeping in the city by 2022, by working in partnership with the council and other non-profits like Crisis. A small team of volunteers go out each day to reach people who are sleeping rough and - hopefully - offer them one of the 779 emergency hostel beds that the council funded throughout Newcastle.

In the four years since it launched, Street Zero says it has helped reduce rough sleeping by 68%. “We're actually at a pivotal moment for Newcastle because we have now made an offer of accommodation to every single person in the city who finds themselves out on the street,” says David Yellowley, the charities' Trustee of Commission.

However, the fight doesn't stop there. For David and his team, their next step is ensuring that these people don't end up rough sleeping again, by, for example, providing mental health, drug and alcohol support and free courses with Newcastle college.

If you come across somebody who is sleeping rough in the city, David advises that you call their Rough Sleeping Helpline on 0191 278 3899, and a member of the team will come down and talk to them.

The best way to help this project continue, David says, is to donate to their emergency fund, which goes straight to the charities that are providing accommodation.

Give a charitable Christmas gift

Not sure what Christmas gift to give to your loved one who says they don't want anything? Unsure what to tell your loved ones to get you? Why not use the money you were going to spend on them to buy a charitable gift, or ask them to do the same?

Crisis publishes a Christmas gift list, The Big Issue shop is filled with goodies, and Shelter does a classic range of 30 different Christmas cards .

Centrepoint offers the option to buy a gift card, where £10 pays for one homeless young person to have a hot meal over the Christmas period, £30 buys a Christmas gift, £25 gets a Christmas jumper and £50 buys a full Christmas hamper. Find the full list of 'More than a Gift' options here .

Alternatively, step away from the Amazon Prime and stock up on some winter supplies instead from Unhoused, the world’s first online shop for homelessness that donates one item for every one you buy.

It's these small extras, given alongside the safety of a warm bed, that can help give people facing homelessness a chance to experience a Christmas close to what many of us take for granted each year.

Consider volunteering yourself

If you have some spare time this Christmas, you could volunteer with one of the many homelessness charities doing work in Newcastle. Covid restrictions are still making this difficult, but there are still some options. The People’s Kitchen is always recruiting for more volunteers, and you can get in touch to help with their 'Feed an Friend' Christmas campaign.

Crisis is looking for volunteers to help with their Christmas charity event in Newcastle. You can help with entertainment, food, driving, logistics and more.

Organise a fundraising event

If you're stretched for time or money, why not organise a fundraising event yourself? You could put on a bake sale, do a sponsored run or bike ride, host a quiz or run a poetry night.

Shelter, one of the UK's biggest homelessness charities, has put together an informative guide to get you going.

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