Spring – St Martin’s Charity

Spring is here, and at St Martin’s Charity we have been reflecting on the impact of your support over the past year.

Thanks to the generosity of many in the congregation and beyond, our 2025 Christmas Appeal surpassed its target, raising a total of £2.6m. At a time when more people are facing homelessness than ever, this support is already helping people across the UK to find safety and stability.

Through our emergency grants, we are continuing to help individuals and families who are facing homelessness to move into safe accommodation. Gary, who featured in our 2025 Christmas Appeal, described the impact of this support: ‘The grant helped me move forward and transformed my life. Things like this don’t happen to people like me every day. I’ve begun creating a place I can finally call home.’

Alongside this, we are funding projects in South Wales, Edinburgh and London trialling innovative new approaches to helping people with both mental ill-health and homelessness. And we are pleased to be able to provide our new Access to Accommodation Fund which is launching later this month, aiming to unlock or create new housing options for people experiencing homelessness, with a focus on grassroot organisations embedded in the local community. We also continue to support the vital work of The Connection at St Martin’s, working with people in Westminster who are sleeping rough, where it is sadly at the highest level on record in England.

Behind each of these interventions are frontline workers providing skilled, compassionate support. Through our Frontline Network, we bring workers from across the UK together to access training, share knowledge, and strengthen the support available to people experiencing homelessness.

This year also marks an important milestone. This year’s Christmas Appeal will be our 100th, which coincides with the church’s 300th anniversary. It is an opportunity not only to look back, but to recognise the role this community has played in supporting people over generations.

If you would like to share some of your memories of the appeal or how you have been involved over the years, we would love to hear from you by emailing henry.popham@stmartinscharity.org.uk. Thank you so much for your continued support.

Duncan Shrubsole, Chief Executive, St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity