As part of HSBC UK's partnership with Shelter, they are proudly sponsoring the sort and send service. Send donations to Shelter shops for free by dropping off your preloved items at any Yodel drop-off point.
Our shops and online store rely on donations of your preloved clothing, homeware and bric-a-brac to stock our shelves and raise vital funds. Without these donations, we couldn’t continue providing the same level of free, expert help to anyone facing homelessness, as well as campaigning for lasting change.
Every donation makes a difference
Every item you donate to us makes a big difference in fighting to end the devastating impact the housing emergency has on people and our communities. Vital funds mean we can stand together with people facing housing issues or homelessness.
The more high-quality preloved items we receive, the more money we can raise. Each item that we sell online and in our high street shops raises vital funds that could be spent on our front-line services and campaigning work to help end the housing emergency.
A dress sold for £18 could pay for a housing law expert in England to complete an N244 application to save a person threatened imminently with eviction from losing their home.
A coat sold for £29 could fund one call to our emergency helpline.
Or a pair of glitzy earrings sold for £6 could enable a person to make contact with our Legal Team to start the process of getting the expert help and support they desperately need.
Our year in a glance….
Last year we gave information, support and advice to millions of people facing homelessness and experiencing unfit and unsafe housing.
Across our services in 2023-2024, with help from money raised by your preloved donations:
- 15,975 households received advice from our emergency helpline.
- 12,203 households came to our local hubs in England for support and advice.
- Our legal advice services worked with 4,673 households.
- Our professional advice services responded to 16,293 queries from other organisations needing our housing expertise.
- Our justice services assisted 3,971 cases with people in custody and in the community.
- 7.1 million visits to our Shelter England online advice and services pages.
- 15,577 conversations were had on our webchat service.
Your support makes a difference
Supporting families
Together with supporters and partners, we will fight the devastating impact the housing emergency is having on families like Lily's. Lily is a qualified nurse and, together with her two children, was made homeless when their landlord decided to sell the flat they were renting.
They moved into temporary accommodation at the end of 2022, five miles from where six-year-old Isiah went to school and one-year-old Koby's childminder lived. This was a difficult time for the family, but Shelter supported them through it. They were living in one room and her eldest would often fall asleep at school, as her youngest would keep him up during the night. However, last July the family were able to move into a social home in their old area.
Empowering local communities
At our Bournemouth Hub, our housing rights workers provide advice and support on housing and homelessness issues. They deliver casework face-to-face at the hub, via telephone and in the community. They also use their expertise to upskill workers at other organisations in the local community.
We delivered drop-in sessions with West Howe Community Enterprises, to understand what the housing need was like in the local community, as well as workshops with introductory advice for volunteers. Now one of the volunteers, Kathy, delivers a weekly drop-in where locals can get support with issues like cost of-living concerns, food vouchers, and support with household bills.
Campaigning for change
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines how much housing benefit private renters can receive each month to help them pay rent. For many, LHA is a vital lifeline standing between them and homelessness. However, since 2020 the LHA rate had been frozen by the government, despite rental prices and the cost of living skyrocketing. Since January 2020, the average UK rent has increased by 23%. In response to this, Shelter launched a campaign calling out the government for its failure to unfreeze housing benefit.
We worked with Vicky, who was previously homeless in temporary accommodation with her children. She wrote an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer telling him about the experiences of thousands of families like hers. The letter gained over 31,000 supporter signatures, all demanding an end to the freeze. At the same time, our campaigns team mobilised 10,000 people to write to their MPs asking for the same. After months of dedicated campaigning, in November 2023 it was announced that the freeze would finally be lifted.
Find out more about Shelter's impact.
Sort and Send is sponsored by HSBC UK
HSBC UK is sponsoring our Sort and Send service to facilitate this easy way to donate by post. Anyone could find themselves at risk of losing their home. Poor financial health and homelessness can often go hand in hand, which is why HSBC UK and Shelter are working together to support people to build financial resilience and help break the vicious circle of homelessness. Building on the success of HSBC UK’s ground-breaking No Fixed Address bank account service, HSBC UK and Shelter’s three-year partnership will increase support for people in immediate crisis, as well as help build a more secure future for those at risk. This includes funding increasing emergency help measures, creating new digital tools and online guidance and as well as in-person services.
In the first year of the partnership over 42,000 individuals have been supported across HSBC UK funded initiatives across the UK. This includes over 18,500 individuals supported via Shelter’s Emergency Housing Helpline.
HSBC UK colleagues have also raised over £12,610 through donating good quality preloved clothing. HSBC UK continue to support Shelter Retail through collaboration on boutique pop-ups – look out for the HSBC UK Boutique Brought to you by HSBC UK at Somerset House Skate from the 13th November.
Find out more about HSBC UK and Shelter's partnership.
HSBC UK and Shelter are working together to support people to build financial resilience and help break the vicious circle of homelessness. You can fuel the fight for home by using our free Sort and Send postal service, sponsored by HSBC UK. Pack up your preloved pieces and take them to one of the thousands of drop-off points across the country to post to us.
Send us your preloved donation for free