Hackney Night Shelter launches Christmas appeal to open new women’s space

Hackney Night Shelter’s Christmas appeal raised £75,000 last year. Photograph: Isabelle Maziere

Hackney Night Shelter is raising money to continue their vital work with a stacked bill of festive events.

For 25 years the charity has been providing not only emergency shelter and hot meals but individual plans for people finding their way off the streets and into longer-term accommodation.

To fund their efforts, the shelter and its supporters put on a series of Christmas events every year. In 2024, the Christmas appeal raised more than £75,000, which allowed the charity to support more than 200 people.

Director Mark Palframan told the Citizen: “Homelessness is all year round, but people think about it a lot at Christmas. People are more conscious of it.”

Volunteers cooking at Hackney Night Shelter. Photograph: Hackney Doorways

This year’s festivities kicked off on 10 November with the charity’s Christmas card launch, and are set to continue on 29 November with a choir concert at the Growing Communities market at St Paul’s West Hackney, Stoke Newington.

Also on the agenda is a quiz at the Mildmay Club on 2 December, a series of Christmas carol sessions, and Barge East’s ‘Wick Wonderland’, a festive market which runs on various dates throughout December.

Supporters can set up their own events, which will be added to the shelter’s festive calendar. Previous events have included sea shanty concerts, markets and craft workshops – in 2024 there was even a leather bunting-making workshop.

A sea shanty choir perform at Dalston Junction Station each year to raise money for the charity. Photograph: Isabelle Maziere

The money raised will go towards the establishment of a new women’s shelter, which, it is hoped, will support their existing facilities – and give 100 women a place to sleep in the coming year.

Hackney Night Shelter previously ran a discreet women’s project for six years but it closed due to issues with the building. However, Palframan says the charity ‘really wants’ to open another women-only space.

The Women’s Rough Sleeping Census estimates there could be up to 10 times more women without permanent housing than government data suggests.

Charity bosses are hoping to open a women’s shelter. Photograph: Hackney Doorways

Lu Maitra, the shelter’s Community Engagement Coordinator, said: “Hidden homelessness is a lot more prevalent in women. Women are more likely to [sleep] on buses or in hospital waiting rooms [than on the street], so they’re less visible.

“Women might be more scared to stay in a mixed shelter, especially if they have experienced domestic violence.”

Staff at the night shelter are currently looking for a building and are appealing to anyone with a disused property who might be interested in working with them. “The building we’re in at the moment is an old office from the council, which we turned into a night shelter,” Palframan said.

“We’re really appealing to people who have properties in the borough that are going to be empty for a year or so. We make very good guardians, we look after buildings nicely.”

You can donate to Hackney Night Shelter’s Christmas appeal via its JustGiving page and find out more about the work the charity does on its website.