Charity of the Year – Shelter

We are proud to partner with Shelter as our Charity of the year. Help us in our mission to defend the right to a safe home.

Donate here

Our 2024/25 Charity of the Year

We are proud to partner with Shelter as our Charity of the Year. Shelter is a housing and homelessness charity, that exists to defend the right to a safe home.

In February 2024, there were 142,490 children who were homeless – a jump of 16,960 (14%) in a year. There are 279,400 people living in temporary accommodation – most of whom are families. Government figures reveal that almost half (47%) of families who are homeless in temporary accommodation have been there for more than two years. The housing emergency is having a huge effect on the communities we work in.

Affinity is fundraising for Shelter to support its mission to solve the housing emergency and make sure that every family has a home. Shelter’s work to provide support, free legal advice and campaigns to change the system are a lifeline for thousands of people.

Learn more about Shelter

How we’re supporting Shelter

Across the year, we’ll be running four fundraising activities. Keep your eyes peeled for information about our first fundraising activity, launching in May.

Every donation helps:

Just £5 could help fund a webchat providing essential emergency housing advice
Donating £10 could help answer an urgent call to the Shelter helpline
£50 enables one of Shelter’s legal advisers to complete an application for legal aid funding
£100 helps pay for legal advice to help a family in crisis keep their home

As well as fundraising for Shelter, we’ll be setting up Donation Stations at each of our office locations. Staff will be to donate clothes to be sold in Shelter charity shops, supporting both Shelter’s goals and our sustainable business goals.

Donate here

Why we’re supporting Shelter

Our CEO, Esme Bianchi-Barry explains why Shelter is our charity of the year:

“Last Christmas, 140,000 children spent Christmas without a home. The number of homeless households in the UK is the highest it’s ever been.

At Affinity, we are using our platform to support change. The important work that Shelter does with children living in temporary and unsuitable accommodation is closely linked to our own work – we know that housing and education effect life outcomes. Right now, there is a cost-of-living crisis and a housing emergency, we all need to step up and do more. Affinity is engaging our national workforce to fundraise for Shelter’s work and support their campaigns for change.”

Meet our Charity Champions

Across our business, our Social Impact Champions drive engagement with our charity partnership. They encourage our team to get involved with fundraising initiatives and help to drive new and innovative ways that we can support our charity of the year.