This winter, 22,800 young people will experience homelessness. Christmas should be a time of comfort, joy and warmth. But for them, it’s a time of anxiety, hunger and fear. This should never be Christmas.
By fundraising for Centrepoint, you're giving a homeless young person safety and certainty this Christmas and beyond. We've pulled together ideas on how you can raise money over December, along with links to our posters and resources.
12 days of Christmas ideas
- Hold your own festive Sleep Out - Sleep Out in your garden, balcony or anywhere other than your bed! Bring your group together and plan themed activities to keep you entertained throughout the cold night - a carol singalong anyone?!
- Christmas party - Bring your family and friends together for festive food and fizz, and gather donations through a bit of competition with a pay-to-play best dressed challenge, festive cook-off or talent show!
- Carols and fairs – Already holding a Christmas concert or fair at your place of worship, school or community centre? Set up a way to donate and we can provide you with some flyers and t-shirts for the big night.
- Hold your own Santa Dash or Walk - Crack out your Santa suit and get sponsored to take on a walking/running challenge of your choice!
- Festive treats – Spread some festive cheer with a Christmas-themed bake sale. Dust off your festive recipe books and put on a bake off challenge filled with the classic cakes - stollen, mince pies, Christmas cake, chocolate logs and pannetone...
- Christmas quiz – Get everyone to plan a section each, put on some drinks and you have yourself a very merry quiz night!
- Christmas crafting - Create your own festive crafts and sell your art for a suggested donation – this could be Christmas cards, tree decorations, wreaths or a table centrepiece.
- Guess the angel - Ask friends or colleagues to bring in photos of themselves as a child and get everyone to guess who’s who for a £1 donation.
- Christmas raffle – Organise a raffle in your community- whether it’s with your football team or youth group – pool together your gifts and enjoy the winnings.
- Gift wrapping - If you’re a wrapping pro then why not offer a gift-wrapping service for your friends or neighbours?
- Christmas jumper day – Celebrate Christmas jumper day in style - get your community group or school to crack out their cheesiest festive knitwear and ask for donations to Centrepoint.
- Best dressed Christmas pet – with your friends or classmates ask for donations to enter into a best dressed Christmas pet challenge. The more festive, the better!
Your festive fundraising checklist
- Pick something you enjoy!
There are lots of fun ways you can raise money for homeless young people this winter. Play to your strengths, whether you’re a musician, painter or an athlete, there’s a challenge for everyone!
- Set up and customise a JustGiving page
JustGiving is the easiest way to raise money for Centrepoint and collect donations from friends and family online. Simply set up your page, personalise it with a few pictures, set your fundraising target and add some details about why you’re fundraising this winter for homeless young people. Then share, share share!
- Set a team fundraising target
If you're raising money with a group, a brilliant way to create a sense of team effort, achievement and engage everyone involved is to set a fundraising target that you can achieve together.
