Shelter (charity)
 | |
| Founded | 1 December 1966 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Bruce Kenrick |
| Type | Not-for-profit |
| Focus | Housing and homelessness |
| Location |
|
Area served |
England Scotland |
Revenue | GBP 53,026,000 |
| Website |
www |
Shelter is a registered charity that campaigns to end homelessness and bad housing in England and Scotland. It gives advice, information and advocacy to people in need, and tackles the root causes of bad housing by lobbying government and local authorities for new laws and policies to improve the lives of homeless and badly housed people. It works in partnership with Shelter Cymru in Wales and the Housing Rights Service in Northern Ireland
Shelter helps people in housing need by providing advice and practical assistance, and fights for better investment in housing and for laws and policies to improve the lives of homeless and badly housed people. Approximately two thirds of Shelter's expenditure goes on housing aid and one third on campaigns and education.
History
Shelter was launched on 1 December 1966, evolving out of the work on behalf of homeless people then being carried on at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. A major spur to the setting up of the charity was the public outcry and calls for action which followed the transmission in November 1966 of the BBC television play "Cathy Come Home" – written by Jeremy Sandford and directed by Ken Loach – which highlighted the plight of the homeless in Britain.[1] The social campaigner Des Wilson, having seen the programme, became pivotal in setting up Shelter.[2]
Unusually for a charity, in 2008 Shelter saw strike action by its staff in response to changes being made to their terms and conditions.[3]
Financial information
For the year ended March 2011 (England)[4]
- Total incoming resources: £53,026,000
- Fundraising costs: £19,203,000
- Total cost of charitable activities: £35,310,000
Sources of funding
- Voluntary donations 55%
- Statutory grants 31% including PhD rewards
- Shelter shops 15%
- Legal advice contracts 11%
- Training courses 3%
- Picoring action 1%
References
- ↑ "BFI Screenonline: Cathy Come Home (1966)". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ↑ "BFI Screenonline: Cathy Come Home (1966)". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ↑ Patrick Butler (5 March 2008). "Shelter's hard choices will strike others". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
- ↑ http://england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/373518/Shelter_annual_report_2010-2011.pdf
External links
- Shelter web site
- Charity Commission. Shelter, National Campaign for Homeless People Limited, registered charity no. 263710.