Homelessness

For every £1 we spend, 84p helps children and families

There are over 120,000 homeless children and young people in the UK, and over 172,000 children living in temporary accommodation.

Record numbers of children and teenagers are homeless in the UK. Help us reach and support them.
Over 172,000 children are currently living in temporary accommodation, the highest ever recorded. Over 120,000 children are homeless in the UK. Behind every number is a child without stability, security, essentials, or somewhere to call home.
Our Crisis Fund has supported 54,331 children supported since the fund began in March 2020, providing emergency support in times of crisis, including those facing homelessness. Our teams work every day to make sure vulnerable children don't fall through the gaps.

Your donation could help to provide crisis support, hot meals, and safe spaces for children with nowhere safe to go.

Help stop youth homelessness in the UK

Watch "Help stop youth homelessness" on YouTube

Suddenly finding yourself without a home is incredibly scary. We have had young people come to us where they’re fleeing domestic violence or family violence
Maddy, Dorset Nightstop

More about our work

What does Action for Children do?

We protect and support children and young people. We do this by providing practical and emotional care and support. We make sure their voices are heard. And we campaign to bring lasting improvements to their lives.

Today, we run 342 services in local communities across the UK, in schools and online.

In our nurseries and children's centres, staff make sure children get the best start in life. Our foster, adoptive and modern residential services find children and young people safe and loving homes.

We step in to protect children from neglect and abuse and help those who care for others or are at risk of homelessness. Innovative projects like The Blues Programme give young people the help they need to look after their mental health.

We're also here for parents, through projects like Parent Talk, our online support service.

What we've achieved

We’ve been helping children for more than 155 years. In 2024/25 we helped 551,400 children, young people and families. This was only possible with your support.

551,400: the number of children, young people and families we helped in 2024/25
342: the number of Action for Children services across the UK, in schools and online
50,869: the number of children reached with mental health support in 2024/25
484,650: the number of children, young people and families reached by our family support services, including Parent Talk, in 2024/25
Over 2,000,000: the number of children and young people we've helped since 1869

All this is only possible thanks to the support of people like you.

Where your money goes

Your donations help us to support vulnerable children, young people and their families in the UK.

84p of every £1* we spend goes directly towards helping children, young people and their families. Your support is so important right now because levels of financial hardship, abuse and neglect have been rising. We’ve seen a huge surge in demand for our services. Your donations help us to run these essential services, which give vulnerable children and families a vital lifeline.

We make sure that every penny you donate goes where it will have the greatest impact on children’s lives.

Most of the donations we receive from our campaigns are unrestricted. This means they’re not spent on one project or one specific area of the UK, but where the need is greatest. We wouldn’t be able to operate as a charity without this type of income. Unrestricted funds help us reach the children and young people who need us most. Funds raised from this appeal will be unrestricted and used by Action for Children for its general charitable purposes. Please see the Our Work and Impact for examples of the work we do to help children and young people and their families.

* Figure based on audited 2024/25 charity accounts that exclude subsidiary companies like commercial nurseries.