Supporting Only A Pavement Away
National Winter Warmth Campaign
The Winter Warmth campaign is designed to collect up and donate items ranging from coats, jumpers and personal hygiene products to local homeless shelters and charities.
The Winter Warmth campaign is there to help at a time when many rough sleepers are starting to feel the effects of winter biting in. It is estimated that a minimum of 7000 people will sleep rough during the winter months.
Since 2019 the Only A Pavement Away Winter Warmth campaign has distributed c£250,000 of items to those sleeping rough and/or are in hostels.
Donations can be made to any local homeless charity or shelter.
So please take part in the Winter Warmth Campaign by collecting up warm clothes and donating to a homeless charity, shelter or hostel who will be thrilled to receive your kind donations – they really will help to make a big difference.
Please let us know if you plan to take part by dropping us a message on the form below and we can help promote your donation and guide you to nearest drop off point.
Greg Mangham Founder and CEO of Only a Pavement Away
In 2018 Greg founded Only A Pavement Away, a charity whose purpose was to help the homeless, rough sleepers, ex-offenders and VETs find work in the hospitality industry.
Stats From Only A Pavement Away
- 12000 people commit their first offence whilst homeless.
- Average lifespan of a rough sleeper is 46.
- An average of 7000 veterans sleep rough per year.
- The average cost to society of supporting a rough sleeper is £20k.
- The combined average cost to society of financing a mix of rough sleeper, veterans and ex- offenders is c£44k
- 40% of prison leavers have no accommodation to go to on release.
- 12% of prison leavers will sleep rough at least once on release
Get Involved
All items and donations will be very well received
GET INVOLVED they are looking for donations of:
- Coats
- Winter jumpers
- Scarves
- Gloves
- Toiletries – small deodorants, anti-perspirants, small shower gels
Winter Warmth Campaign November 2022
Do you have a warm coat you don’t wear anymore? Donate a coat to someone who needs it more than you.
While many of us look at a coat as an item that is meant to keep us warm, cosy, and stylish, there are plenty of less fortunate people who don’t even have that basic necessity.
How can you donate your coats to those in need? It’s actually really easy to give a coat to someone who could desperately use it. It is basically a no-effort way to do a good and charitable deed for someone else. Just make sure that it’s in good, wearable condition and that you have cleaned out the pockets.
Get your whole office involved in collecting coats. Once you have your pile of coats ready to go, contact local shelters, homeless charities, YMCA’s, Food banks and other organisations that will happily take them off your hands. Arrange a drop off with them directly, take some photos to share with us and we will help promote your donation.
Paramount in West Hampstead support Wrap Up London
Spencer Lawrence, lettings director of Paramount, and Agents Giving Board Director, comments;
“The Winter Coat Drive has a huge impact on the lives of people in need, particularly during the winter months. It’s difficult to truly grasp how much of a difference even a single donation can make without experiencing first-hand the difficulties that the homeless face trying to shield against the elements. With this in mind, last year our office and clients did our best to raise awareness and collect donations for Wrap Up London. Many people have gently used winter coats at the back of their closets that have been replaced for one reason or another, and this year Paramount will be gearing up to raise more awareness of this charity and encourage important donations to be made!”
Spencer continued, “This experience has been humbling, but I urge business owners to make sure that your team are robust enough if they are going to take part in this initiative, it is not easy to see and comprehend what they will see. Neglect. Desperation. It’s hard to deal with and the reality is that this is happening every single day.”
Supporting Only a Pavement Away.
Wrap Up UK
Wrap Up spend many hours sorting coats into different categories for men, women, children and babies. They check pockets and make sure the coat is clean and in a good enough condition to be given away.
Their philosophy is ‘would YOU wear this?’
Following the collection period, coats are sorted and distributed to charities across the UK. They work with charities and community organisations that provide frontline services to the homeless, the elderly, refugees, children and families living in poverty and people fleeing domestic violence.
Chestertons Calling London 21st October - 22nd November 2022
What is the ‘Coat Drive’? Every winter, for a one month period, all of Chestertons’ London branches will become donation points in support of Calling London’s Winter Coat Drive. This year’s dates: Friday 21st October – Tuesday 22nd November.
Calling London Founded in 2010, Calling London is a volunteer led charity whose motivation comes solely from wanting to help follow Londoners stay warm through the winter.
Where do the donations go? Once the Coat Drive ends and all items are collected, the donations are distributed to 30 charitable organisations – helping the homeless, victims of domestic abuse, those living in poverty, the elderly, refugees and children. Donations are distributed to:
Age UK Lambeth Barking and Dagenham CVS Barons Court Project Build on Belief Centrepoint Children’s Society Crisis at Christmas Coyden Nightwatch Dress for Success Greenwich Winter Night Shelter Hackney Winter Night Shelter Help our Homeless Hestia Homestart Westminster Lionheart in the Community The Margins Project North London Action for the Homeless North London Cares The Passage The Pilion Trust RAMFEL Refuge The Refugee Council The Rugby Portobello Trust SHP Homeless charity The Simon Community Southwark Day Centre for Refugees St Mungo’s Suited and Booted Their Voice Toynbee Hall Turning Point The Upper Room Vauxhall Christian Centre Vineyard Community West London Churches for the Homeless Westminster Drugs Project Women’s Wellness Group Trussell Trust Foodbanks
How You Can Help
Since partnering with Calling London in 2014, Chestertons has collected more and more coats every year, starting with 200 in our first year and growing to an incredible 3500 in 2021. This will be our
ninth coat drive and we are hoping to collect even more coats as the demand is so much higher – we need your help!
Host a collection – Every year, schools and businesses across London support the Coat Drive by hosting their own collections! Please get in touch if you’d be able to act as a drop off point for
your clients, customers or employees to donate. Promote the Coat Drive on social & emails.
Help us spread awareness by encouraging your followers and subscribers to donate. It’s free and easy! Chestertons can provide the imagery and copy. Let your colleagues know. Put a poster in your staff room and include theCoat Drive in your internal communications.
Collect from your friends and family! Encourage your contacts to donate, or collect from your friends and family before dropping off the donations at your local Chestertons. Support the Coat Drive and help us keep vulnerable Londoners warm this winter. For more information and assets, please get in touch. Thank you!
