"Communication is key to everything. Simple as that".
Digital connection has the power to transform someone’s life. One text message can be the lifeline that sees a person experiencing homelessness find stable accommodation, an isolated community member reconnect with society and a refugee start a new life.
Tesco Mobile has supported Crisis to help more people experiencing homelessness to reconnect with society by providing them with devices and connectivity. Since the beginning of our partnership in 2020, Tesco Mobile have made an incredible donation of over £941,000 to Crisis Skylight members across England, Scotland and Wales.
Through the partnership, Crisis and Tesco Mobile have worked together to educate and empower the public through a series of fundraising initiatives. 823 unwanted or old phones were donated by the public in 2020, and over the course of the two-year partnership, Tesco Mobile staff and customers have
raised over £100,000 for Crisis through our joint fundraising campaigns.
You can read our impact report in full here.
Digital connection has been absolutely vital in enabling members to access Crisis services and support throughout the pandemic, as over 90% of our support as been provided digitally since March 2020.
In addition, the £27,000 raised through the Christmas 2021 campaign enabled us to provide devices and connectivity for over 400 of our Christmas guests so that they could participate in the virtual advice sessions and entertainment on offer throughout the project.
The devices and connectivity packs provided by Tesco Mobile have been essential in ensuring that our staff and members can continue to work together. Hear from our digital administrator Pete on how the partnership has presented a lifeline for people experiencing homelessness over the past two years.
Tesco Mobile gave Crisis more than just the gift of connection in Christmas 2021. The incredible team raised £27,815 through a digital, social media and in-store campaign in support of our Crisis at Christmas appeal, in addition to donating 500 smartphones and 50 tablets for our Crisis at Christmas guests to use. Our guests will use their new smartphones to stay in touch with essential support services, family and friends as they work to leave homelessness behind for good.
In 2021, Tesco Mobile continued to support our mission to help end homelessness and raised awareness of the growing importance of digital connectivity in accessing essential services.
Throughout the festive period, Tesco Mobile’s role was to raise awareness and amplify the Crisis at Christmas campaign, highlighting how the gift of connection can help someone start their journey out of homelessness. With research revealing that every year, £5 billion is spent on unwanted gifts - Tesco Mobile joined forces with us and encouraged colleagues and customers to give the gift of a fresh start this Christmas, to someone who really needs it.
708 donations were made via the Tesco Mobile Christmas appeal, totalling an incredible £27,815. These donations will fund Crisis’ work at our year-round Skylight centres, policy and campaigning work in addition to our annual Christmas project.
The campaign also succeeded in raising vital awareness of the Crisis at Christmas project, at a time when competition between different charity appeals is at its strongest. Celebrities, including the UK Youth Mental Health Ambassador and Love Island star Dr Alex George and Gogglebox favourite Tommy Malone shared the appeal on social. Influencers and social media activists including Dominique Palmer, Jessie Cave and India Ysabel also shared the appeal on Instagram, garnering support and donations from their followers.
Additionally, 40-second trails played on Absolute Radio highlighted the value of unwanted gifts given every year and Crisis and Tesco Mobile’s mission to encourage people to give a more meaningful gift this Christmas.
Tesco Mobile contributed 500 smartphones in support of our 2021 Crisis at Christmas project. In addition, 50 Tesco Mobile tablets were donated, which guests were able to borrow to access our online programme of activities and entertainment. The two weeks of activities saw 180 participants across 35 live sessions, made possible through guests borrowing tablets to join sessions.
The phones and tablets donated to Crisis at Christmas have helped our guests in so many ways: enabling our Advice Teams to keep in regular contact with guests; conduct searches for jobs and accommodation; participate in online wellbeing sessions and reconnect with family and friends. All of which has made a massive difference to their emotional and physical wellbeing.
Crucially, the 12-months of connectivity included with the smartphones allows our year-round Christmas Case Management team to stay in regular contact with guests as they work with them to secure a sustainable end to their homelessness. As one Christmas guest said:
“They gave me an android phone with a year paid up. How fabulous is that? With a little bit of training it will allow me to communicate with all the relevant people. You can’t exist in any country these days unless you’re conversant with email and texting. The difference it’s going to make is now I’m in communication with people. That is key. Communication is key to everything. Simple as that.”
A huge thank you to everyone at Tesco Mobile for your incredible support for our Crisis at Christmas guests, and to every single person who gave the gift of a fresh start to a person experiencing homelessness for Christmas 2021.
If you are a charity or non-profit organisation in need of devices and data for the people you support, you can write to tescomobile.littlehelps@tesco.com to request these.
Crisis doesn’t provide emergency accommodation, so if you see someone rough sleeping, we advise the following:
It is a personal choice whether you want to give someone a little bit of change. People experiencing homelessness often tell us that isolation, and that feeling of being invisible, is one of the harshest parts of being on the street.
Stopping for a chat with someone who is begging or rough sleeping may be the only contact they have that day. If you feel like you want to give someone change for a cup of tea or something to eat, then make the decision that feels right to you. You should always ask the person what they want to eat or drink before purchasing something, to make sure it’s right for them.
If you do decide to give some money, you should always consider whether this is the most effective means of supporting this individual, and whether there are other ways you can support them instead of, or as well as, giving cash (such as giving them information).
If you are worried about someone’s housing situation, direct them towards Shelter's free Housing Advice Helpline on 0808 800 4444. It is open from 8am-8pm on weekdays and 9am-5pm on weekends. There is also a lot of information about housing on Shelter England's website and on Shelter Scotland's website.
You may need another type of help from a specialist organisation. We have listed some here for you: