Rough sleeping poses a serious risk to life all year round, but the dangers increase significantly during the winter months as temperatures drop. 

In Birmingham homelessness charity SIFA Fireside is seeing sustained demand for its services.

3,200 support interventions monthly for homeless in Birmingham

SIFE Fireside supports around 500 unique individuals each month who are rough sleeping or in urgent need of help, and delivering approximately 3,200 individual support interventions. 

These figures are expected to rise further as Christmas approaches.

Much of this work is delivered through the Homelessness Intervention Team at SIFA Fireside’s Digbeth Support Centre, which costs £1.76 million a year to run. 

The centre acts as the city’s main hub for adults experiencing homelessness, providing vital services including health clinics, housing and benefits advice, financial guidance, hot meals, showers and access to clean clothing.

To help fund this essential work, SIFA Fireside has once again partnered with Birmingham-based creative agency One Black Bear to launch its seasonal “Notes for Christmas” fundraising campaign. 

The campaign uses a creative twist on traditional Christmas carols to encourage passers-by to stop, reflect and donate.

Robb Sheppard, Head of Fundraising and Communications at SIFA Fireside, said fundraising was crucial to keeping services open year-round, not just during the festive period. 

Donate

The campaign is being promoted across Birmingham using donated out-of-home advertising space from Ocean Outdoor. People can support the appeal by donating at https://sifafireside.co.uk/christmas/.