Community Spotlight: Greenwich Homeless Project

As the nights draw in and the weather turns, the busiest season of the year begins for Greenwich Homeless Project. This Christmas, the Eltham charity has a simple ask of everyone in Blackheath, Greenwich and beyond: give during one week in December, and your gift will be doubled.

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Greenwich Homeless Project

Services · Eltham

A volunteer-led Eltham charity giving shelter, a year-round day centre, and housing and welfare support to people facing homelessness across the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Christmas: every gift doubled

Greenwich Homeless Project is taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, the national match-funding campaign. From 12 noon on Tuesday 1 December to 12 noon on Tuesday 8 December, every donation made on the charity's Big Give page is doubled by match funding, up to £25,000.

The charity's goal is to raise £50,000 in just seven days. In its own words: "As the weather gets colder and our services get busier, this is the season to show up for those experiencing homelessness."

How the matching works

It is simple. As the charity puts it, match funding is "waiting in the wings". When the campaign opens at noon on 1 December, each gift made on the charity's Big Give page is matched pound for pound until the £25,000 match pot is used up. A £10 donation becomes £20, and £50 becomes £100, so every gift goes twice as far.

Safe Homes SE, which became the charity's first corporate partner this autumn, made a pledge that helped secure the match funding in time for this year's challenge.

Give here, from noon on 1 December: Donate on the Big Give page

Why it matters this winter

The money raised will fund Day Centre activities, including mental health support, and practical help for guests as they move into a home of their own. That help is often the difference between getting the keys and keeping them.

The charity says it has helped 68 of its guests into a home since October 2025. It shares stories such as Andy's. After two months at the night shelter, he collected the keys to his new home in the area where he grew up, the place he calls home. Another is Chioma, who came back to the Day Centre for breakfast to say thank you for the help in securing a home and for her "moving in pack". She also shared her good news: she has started a new job as a carer.

The Big Sing: Sunday 29 November

The fundraising starts before Big Give week. On Sunday 29 November, from 3pm to 4pm, local community choirs are singing for the charity at The Big Sing at Eltham Parish Church on Eltham High Street. Refreshments and a Christmas craft sale follow.

Everyone is welcome, with a suggested donation on entry and no one turned away. Money collected on the day goes onto the Big Give page when it opens on 1 December, so it can be doubled too.

From church halls to a home of its own

Greenwich Homeless Project began in 2014, when a group of local churches opened their buildings as places of refuge for the growing number of people sleeping rough in Greenwich. For six years it ran as a rotating winter night shelter, moving between church venues. It still gives thanks to a family of local churches, among them St Michael's Blackheath, St George's Westcombe Park, Christ Church East Greenwich and St James' Kidbrooke.

The pandemic brought that rotating model to a halt. The charity used the pause to renovate a building of its own on Middle Park Avenue in Eltham, and relaunched there in January 2022. Many locals still know it by its old name, Greenwich Winter Night Shelter.

A bed, every month of the year

The night shelter has 14 single rooms. Until this spring it opened through the winter only. In April 2026, with new funding from the Sub-Regional Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, it began opening every month of the year: the established winter shelter now runs from October to April, and a new spring and summer shelter from April to October. To support the extra work, the team added a caseworker and an operations coordinator.

Places are given by referral, through partner agencies including Thames Reach, the 999 Club and the Royal Borough of Greenwich's homelessness service, and through the charity's own Day Centre. Guests get far more than a bed. Each has one-to-one casework aimed at a stable, long-term home, along with meals, washing and laundry, and support with health, wellbeing, education and skills.

The Day Centre

The year-round Day Centre is open to anyone who is homeless or at risk of homelessness: Monday 9am to 1pm, Wednesday 9am to 3pm, Thursday 9am to 1pm and Friday 9am to 1pm. Mornings start with breakfast, and there is a hot lunch, showers and laundry, plus casework and advocacy on housing, welfare rights and employment.

It is also a place to spend time well and rebuild confidence. There is a gardening club in the charity's own garden, arts and crafts, wellbeing workshops and employability coaching, and guests can get help with clothing, wifi, a GP and counselling.

In April 2026 the charity was awarded the Housing Justice Quality Mark. The assessor wrote: "The dynamic between staff, volunteers and guests is exemplary... There is a calm, inviting atmosphere at the shelter and day centre where humour and camaraderie abound. Clearly, the charity is true to its mission and values."

The people behind it

All of this is run by a small staff team and more than 100 volunteers, with a board of trustees chaired by Hugh Moir. The staff team is led by chief executive Georgia Sims. Mandy Brinkhurst is operations lead and Destinie Okoibhole operations coordinator. Catherine Champney leads casework, with caseworkers Bliss Moore and Aisha Buabin. Alice Murray coordinates learning and skills, Paul Hudson is the counsellor and Miran Goesiel is the volunteer champion. Angie Elder, the fundraising and community coordinator, is leading the Big Give campaign.

The charity's mission, in its own words, is to offer "shelter, support and advocacy for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness in a welcoming, inclusive and safe space", and to help guests "find their voice, dignity and hope". One volunteer describes it as a "great environment created in conjunction by service users, volunteers and management. Amazing and caring charity."

How you can help

Give during Big Give week. From noon on 1 December to noon on 8 December, every donation on the charity's Big Give page is doubled, up to £25,000: donate.biggive.org. Outside the campaign, one-off and regular gifts can be made through the charity's website, with Gift Aid offered.

Come to The Big Sing on Sunday 29 November, 3pm to 4pm, at Eltham Parish Church.

Volunteer. Night shelter shifts run in the evening (6:30pm to 10pm), as cook (6:30pm to 9pm), overnight (9:45pm to 6:45am) and in the morning (6:45am to 8:45am). Day Centre shifts run from 8:45am to 1:30pm, with a cook's shift from 11:30am to 1pm.

Organise your own event. If you run a fundraiser or sponsored challenge, the team will share tips so your donations can be passed on to the Big Give page and doubled too.

For local businesses

Local firms can make a real difference. Safe Homes SE began by gifting Easter eggs for guests, then delivered Day Centre lunches every other Thursday, before becoming the charity's first corporate partner and pledging towards the Christmas match funding. Businesses can partner with the charity, sponsor or host a fundraising event, rally staff to give during Big Give week, or volunteer as a team. To talk about a partnership, contact the charity through its website.

If you or someone you know needs help tonight, contact Streetlink on 0300 500 0914.

Find out more

Our listing: Greenwich Homeless Project

Big Give page: Donate to the Christmas Challenge

Volunteer: Volunteer with Greenwich Homeless Project

Greenwich Homeless Project: greenwichhomelessproject.org.uk

Greenwich Homeless Project is a registered charity (no. 1197388).