Donate a Christmas Gift to someone experiencing homelessness
How it works
1) Choose your gifts
Choose from Christmas dinners, breakfasts, or thoughtful essentials. Every gift you choose could help provide comfort and dignity to someone facing homelessness this Christmas.
2) Add a message of support
Don't forget to add a personal message of support! These messages can really make all the difference. You can also opt to donate in the name or a family member or friend and send them an e-card showing your donation.
3) Our volunteers will get to work
Your donation helps to support the work of staff and volunteers like Maggie and Clare (pictured).
How your donation helps
Carmel's story
From Crisis to Hope
Carmel was thrown out of her home by her abusive boyfriend. With nowhere to turn and her support network diminished, she found herself cold, isolated and desperate just before Christmas.
After a brief stay in emergency accommodation, Carmel found HARP. She was greeted with warmth, given breakfast, and assigned a support worker who truly listened.
HARP provided Carmel with accommodation at their women-only housing. Through counselling, financial support, and their recovery programme, she began to heal from her trauma. In 2018, Carmel moved into her own flat and now works as a face painter at children's events, with hopes of expanding into a small business.
"HARP helped me at a time when I had no one else. I was completely broken and didn't have the strength to help myself. I honestly don't know where I would have ended up without their support."
Can't choose?
Frequently asked questions
Yes! We're a registered charity number 1099126.
We're also registered with the Fundraising Regulator, a voluntary scheme for charities committed to legal, open, honest an respectful fundraising.
Yes! We have over 120 volunteers and we're always looking for more. Click here if you'd like to find out more.
For many of the people we support, Christmas is a lonely and isolating time. Many have lost contact with their friends and family. We're doing everything we can to support them, but your message can show them someone out there (a stranger like you!) does care.
Every item in this store represents meals and emergency support provided by HARP in Essex. We see immense demand for our services all year round, especially at Christmas time when the streets are freezing cold. Your donation (and any Gift Aid contribution) will help us provide hot meals, emergency accommodation, and vital support to people in need. To ensure we can respond to urgent needs as they arise, we may allocate funds across our meal and emergency support services where they're needed most. Whatever happens, we promise that 100% of your donation will be used to help people experiencing homelessness in Essex.
We don't have the resource to track every gift - but if you opt into phone and or email contact we'll provide an update on your impact.
