Campbell Tickell supports Shelter From The Storm and Help Refugees

21 September 2018 Consultancy.uk

Campbell Tickell, a consultancy based in London, has selected Shelter From The Storm and Help Refugees as the two charities its consultants will support this year. With homelessness on the rise in the UK, and the refugee crisis showing no signs of ending across the continent, the donations will go toward important work supporting the most vulnerable members of society.

Growing wealth disparity, cuts to welfare and a mounting housing crisis see a large number of people still sleeping rough, or living without a home, in modern Britain. According to research from homeless charity Crisis, at least 4,751 people are forced to sleep rough in England on any one night in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. This represents an increase of 15% from 2016 to 2017, and since 2010 rough sleeping estimates, which are almost certainly low, show an increase of 169%.

At the same time, research by charity the No Accommodation Network (NACCOM), recently found that 28% of guests in a sample of night shelters had been granted refugee status, suggesting a Home Office policy of only allowing recognised refugees a 28 day-long ‘move-on’ period to vacate asylum accommodation was leading to a high prevalence of homelessness among one of the most vulnerable sections of British society. Elsewhere in Europe, this trend is even more pronounced, with more than half of Germany’s 860,000 homeless people found to be refugees in late 2017.

Meanwhile, governments across Europe remain slow to react to the two protracted failures of social and economic policy. In the UK, for example, the government only remains committed to tackling this according to a 2027 deadline. This leaves the bulk of support work offered to these two intersecting groups in the here and now coming from the third sector, rather than the state. Charities catering to this demand understandably need all the help they can get, then, and consulting firm Campbell Tickell has announced that it will back two charity entities to that end.

Founded in 1998, Campbell Tickell is a management consultancy with a team of around 30 consultants and a network of 100+ associates, focusing primarily on statutory and not-for-profit sectors, including central and local government, housing associations, care providers, sports and leisure bodies, charities, and commercial organisations such as housebuilders and developers, contractors and legal firms. Since launching, the firm has worked with more than 700 organisations throughout the UK, Ireland and beyond, while each year, Campbell Tickell selects two charity partners as part of its corporate social responsibility endeavours. This year, it will support Shelter From The Storm and Help Refugees.

Pro-bono support

Shelter From The Storm a free homeless shelter in London, open all year round and funded by donations alone, founded in Islington in 2007 by Sheila Scott and Louie Salvoni. Having raised their families in Islington, the duo were shocked that in a seemingly prosperous borough, they were virtually walking over rough sleepers to get to the supermarket. Starting with one night in a church hall, the shelter now operates every night of the year, providing shelter and support for the homeless and dispossessed from anywhere. This year the charity is planning to move to new premises, and Campbell Tickell’s donations will go some way to supporting this move and their mission to house and support the homeless in London whoever they are, wherever they come from.

Help Refugees works with effective small groups and organisations that have sprung up in response to this humanitarian crisis. Founded three years ago by a group of friends who wanted to make a difference, Help Refugees was initially a response to the migrant crisis in Calais, as NGOs and governmental bodies were largely absent from Calais, leaving local French community groups to try to provide for thousands of refugees living in the region. Alongside local partner groups, the group rented a warehouse, learned how to sort donations, and set up a system of aid distribution under the banner ‘Help Refugees’. Overnight, the group states it became the largest aid operation in northern France, providing food, clothes, information and shelter to thousands of refugees.

Three years later, we now support more than 80 projects across 12 countries. We’ve helped more than 722,500 people. The organisation relies on the help of some 25,000 volunteers and its donors to do this. Campbell Tickell’s donations to the group will go toward supporting two programmes in Greece, their food programme and supplying baby nappies for asylum seekers and refugees. The project is based on the idea that providing fresh fruit and vegetables can improve the diet of camp residents, boosting health and morale by supporting them to live more independently.