We’re terrified some of the women we help will be sleeping in doorways in freezing temperatures

This is the time of year we become increasingly worried about the women we support – not least those who face sleeping outdoors in freezing temperatures, are drifting from address to address or are simply living in homes they can’t afford to heat.

We are doing our best to stock up on warm clothing and get it to those who need it most. However, we could always do with more, so we’d be very grateful for donations of suitable garments.

We will pass it to the women who visit our drop-in throughout the week. Women come to our building to pick up nutritious food and a change of clothes. They can also get a shower here and speak to our staff about difficulties they may need help with.

Carl Martin, direct services manager at the New Futures Project, said: “We know of women who are sleeping rough or drifting between addresses and there are inevitably others out there who services are not aware of.

“Temperatures are dropping rapidly and that means they are at greater risk.

“We have some warm clothing, which we’ve been giving out, but we could always do with more.”

Members of Leicester City Council’s homelessness outreach team patrol the streets every day on the look-out for those who are sleeping rough. 

Members of the public can notify the team of someone they believe to be vulnerable by using the Streetlink service, which can be found here 

A range of organisations from across the city joined together in 2018 to create the Leicester Homelessness Charter to co-ordinate the effort to tackle homelessness in the city. 

In its own words, it came about because ‘a number of organisations working in the field recognised that we can achieve more together than separately. We wanted to ‘join the dots’, eliminate duplication and address the gaps in provision and support.’

Further information about Leicester Homelessness Charter, including a list of places which can feed people in need, can be found here

New Futures was set up more than 20 years ago to support women involved in sex work.

However, we have evolved into a welfare and counselling service for women and young people dealing with sexual abuse or exploitation – frequently involving domestic violence, trafficking, poverty and debt, substance use or mental ill-health.

Call us on 0116 251 0803 or send us a message at: info@new-futures.org.uk

You can find us at 71 London Road, Leicester, LE2 0PE.