Volunteer with Crisis this Christmas and be there for someone as they build a life out of homelessness.
Sign-ups for Crisis at Christmas 2025 open in early October.
You can find information about volunteering the rest of the year on our Brent, Croydon and London Skylight pages. If you are interested in volunteering in a shop, you can find information about this on our shops page.
Join our friendly and supportive volunteer community that’s passionate about ending homelessness.
With many volunteers returning year after year, the connections you make at Christmas can be long-lasting. And the relationships you build with people experiencing homelessness can be life-changing.
Every December, hundreds of people facing homelessness come to our Crisis at Christmas hotels and day centres. Volunteers provide a warm welcome, safety, food, and companionship, making Christmas a time that changes lives. Last Christmas, over 600 people stayed in our hotels, 74 received one-to-one support, and more than half left without returning to the streets.
This year, we will open two hotels in Docklands and Aldgate, plus three day centres in Paddington, Pimlico, and Stratford. We are also piloting our new Women-Led Pathway in East London.
"Volunteering at Crisis at Christmas was the best thing I did all year. I felt part of something bigger, and I'll never forget the people I met."— Crisis Volunteer
Join us as a General Volunteer (Day Centres) or Hotel Assistant Volunteer. You’ll be part of a team making sure every guest feels welcome and cared for.
Watch Lydia's video to find out more.
If you’re unsure which role is right for you, or would like to discuss support needs or adjustments, email us at ccvolunteering@crisis.org.uk.
This year there will be three day centres:
Our day centres will be open to guests from 24 December to 28 December 2025. Volunteering shifts are from 9.00am to 6.00pm.
Learn a little more about what to expect from volunteering by watching this video.
Our hotels will be in Aldgate from 22 December 2025 to 21 January 2026 and Docklands from 23 December 2025 to 7 January 2026.
To protect our guests' privacy, we don’t share exact locations. However, you can see the addresses when you sign up to volunteer.
This year, Crisis is piloting a new Christmas pathway specifically designed for all women experiencing homelessness. Located in East London, this short-term, high-quality accommodation is a women-led initiative grounded in a psychologically-informed approach.
This pathway offers a stepping stone out of homelessness, with every guest receiving one to one casework support, along with opportunities to participate in wellbeing and communal activities. While all rooms are private and there are no shared facilities, communal engagement is available for those who wish to connect with others.
This specialist pathway will run alongside Crisis at Christmas, opening for two weeks from 23 December 2025 to 7 January 2026.
Night owls keep things calm through the night, offering a reassuring presence and sense of safety for our guests.
It might be a peaceful shift, but your role is vital — whether you’re preparing for the day ahead or offering a listening ear to someone awake.
Join our Canning Town Warehouse team – the hub that keeps Crisis at Christmas running. These active, hands-on roles are perfect if you like variety and being at the heart of the project. You could be:
No matter what you do, you’ll help make sure guests have everything they need this Christmas.
Watch this video to find out what it will be like in the warehouse.
The voice and expertise of people with lived experience is vital in ensuring our service is truly meeting the needs of our members. We encourage anyone with lived experience to apply for our volunteer roles.
We also involve members and people with lived experience of homelessness in opportunities across the organisation including our Experts by Experience panel. For more details, please speak to the Member Involvement Team: memberinvolvement@crisis.org.uk
Please contact us on the email below: ccvolunteering@crisis.org.uk or give us a call on 0203 745 4004.
It’s great that you want to support us this Christmas! There are lots of opportunities to support us through fundraising or campaigning work. To find out more, click on our Other ways to support buttons below or visit the Crisis at Christmas webpage.
We ask for all donations to be brought to our warehouse as part of our Community Donations so that we can equally distribute items to make sure every centre has what it needs.
Our warehouse in Canning Town will be open to receive Community Donations.
Your application will be reviewed, and you will receive a notification once this is complete.
Once an application has been approved you can select your shifts. If your role requires a disclosure check, you will be asked to start this process.
We have an induction session for all new volunteers and some role specific training as well as a suite of e-learning to ensure you’re well prepared for your volunteering.
Once all the steps are completed, you can begin your volunteering with us.
Some of our roles require previous experience or qualifications and others do not.
Professional service volunteers, such as those completing health checks or haircuts will require the relevant qualifications and public liability insurance.
In some roles we may be looking for volunteers with experience of supporting people who are homeless or other vulnerable adult groups. Information about each role will be listed on our website and throughout your volunteer application form. Please check this information before applying to ensure you are applying for the most suitable role for you.
We want to ensure all our volunteers feel equipped and confident in their role, so we will ask you to complete some essential learning including on topics such as safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion and data protection, as well as role specific training for some positions. Completing this learning will help you and us ensure we keep everyone safe and maintain the privacy of people’s information, as well as creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone.
Once you have registered and applied you will have access to e-learning relevant to your role and will be able to book onto an induction (dependent on your role).
If you are feeling poorly we urge you to not volunteer until you are feeling better.
As we prioritise the health of our guests, volunteers who display any symptoms will be asked to leave their shift.
You can cancel your shift in MCV or let us know by email ccvolunteering@crisis.org.uk or give us a call on 0203 745 4004
At Christmas, due to the volume of volunteers recruited, we are unable to provide detailed references. We will only provide a start and finish date for those who have completed a volunteering shift in the previous two years. The only exception to this is for the lead/senior volunteers who work closely with Crisis and members of staff beyond the Christmas service delivery period.
At Christmas, due to the volume of volunteers recruited we are unable to cover expenses.
Many of the roles in our services will require a disclosure check, (either basic or enhanced) - you will be able to see this on the role description. If the role does, we use a digital system to manage this and we will request and pay for it (where payment is needed).
If you have a criminal conviction, this does not automatically mean you cannot volunteer for us. However, we may need to ask you more about the conviction to be able to do a risk assessment and decide if you can or cannot volunteer.
We have volunteering opportunities that come up year-round and are advertised on our volunteering webpage.
StreetLink exists to help end rough sleeping by enabling members of the public to connect people sleeping rough with the local services that can support them. Visit the StreetLink website to help someone you believe is sleeping rough or call them on 0300 500 0914.
We do not provide transport for volunteers to or from their shifts. You would need to use your own vehicle or public transport.
If you are planning to drive to your shift please note our centres have limited parking which is required for our senior volunteer team, service vehicles, and official Crisis transport vehicles. If you need to drive to your volunteering shift, you can use parking space search sites, e.g. www.parkopedia.com to find nearby parking.
We encourage using public transport where possible and you can use the TfL journey planner here: https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/
Due to the popularity of our volunteering programme, we are no longer able to offer opportunities to companies who are looking to source one-off team events. All of our group volunteering opportunities are filled by our corporate partners.
If you are interested in becoming a Corporate Partner, please have a look on our website or send an email to corporatepartnerships@crisis.org.uk
Hairdressers, drivers, opticians, physiotherapists, nail technicians – your expertise helps guests feel human again and opens doors to new opportunities.
Learn a little more about what to expect from volunteering by watching this video.
