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Today, another 176 young people will be at risk of homelessness.
Help bring a young person in from the outside and provide shelter from cold, wind, rain and heat.
Your donation can help provide shelter during extreme weather.
Times are tough for everyone, especially people like Martin. For so many young people, there is no belief or hope of a better future. Many have no savings, no buffer, no means to weather such storms.
But as young people like Martin continue to prove, they can turn their lives around.
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Make a donation
Where your donation goes
For more than 180 years, YMCA has helped young people like Martin rediscover their worth and turn their lives around.
A lifeline in a crisis
Across England and Wales, more than 80 local YMCAs offer young people emergency help - a safe bed, a hot meal and someone who cares.
Rebuilding lives
Local YMCAs provide wrap-around support tailored to each young person's needs. That might mean counselling to work through trauma, training or education to build skills, or practical sessions in cooking, budgeting and teamwork.
Standing up with young people
YMCA England & Wales supports local YMCAs and campaigns nationally on the issues that matter most, from affordable housing to creating homes for young people.
"Being homeless, I lost all my identity and self-worth. I didn't believe there was a way back, until I found YMCA." - Martin
Frequently Asked Questions
Young people can stay at a YMCA for as long as they need to, as every young person is an individual with individual needs. In some cases, young people can stay for up to two years. We hope you’ll want to follow the young people you are helping and give them your support for as long as you can.
There is no obligation or expectation that you will write to the young people you are helping, but many donators do, and you are more than welcome to. When you sign up, you’ll receive a welcome pack, and in that pack, we include a blank note and return envelope for you to do so. Letters or cards should be sent to YMCA England & Wales.
However, please know that young people will not answer your letters directly. All communications will be via YMCA England & Wales. For this reason, we ask that you do not write or call individual YMCAs.
Please also be aware that whilst all communications and updates are authentic, we sometimes protect the young person’s identity, at their request, by changing their name and using pictures of models.
We’re always happy to hear from you, so please feel free to call our Supporter Care Team on 020 7186 9518 or email us: supporterservices@ymca.org.uk
*Source: figures from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s report into statutory homelessness in England, 2023-24