Personalised cash grants to help people out of homelessness for good.
£1,319 spent by Greater Change unlocks £35,177 in cost savings to the government. A return of over 20x.
Supported by our trusted partners
Our vision is for Greater Change to no longer be needed.
The impact and efficiency of the Greater Change model is undeniable and we ultimately want to contribute to policy change and see the end of homelessness for good.
Our Impact
Why Our Approach Works
We recognise that it is important to meet people where they are and will always work with them and their key workers to build a realistic plan around their ambitions.
We have rejected fewer than 10 cases in our history so far.
Due to our lean team and collaborative approach, our support costs an average of just £1,319 per person in 2022/23.
This approach has resulted in 86% of our clients maintaining their move out of homelessness after our support.
We work with partner charities to deliver our support, leveraging and complementing their local knowledge and strong existing relationships with clients.
Our approach is very simple. Individuals experiencing homelessness and their support workers tell us themselves what will be effective in supporting them out of homelessness. We listen and provide the cash to fund it. Cash works and we have the evidence to prove it.
How it works
More people than ever are falling through the cracks and becoming trapped in homelessness.
At the same time, the pathways out of homelessness are full of varied obstacles and very few ever get the chance to leave homelessness behind on their terms.
We want to change this.
Collaborating with over 60 partner charities, we receive referrals for individuals who are homeless or at risk.
These organisations provide frontline support, and we work in tandem to tackle the financial aspects of homelessness.
We do not duplicate the work already being done by our partners, instead leveraging their strengths and expertise.
Through our financial planning support, we identify barriers that hinder our clients' journey out of homelessness. These might be lack of job training, not having a deposit for a flat, or even basic furnishing.
We pinpoint what's needed for each person's to unlock a key step change towards stability and towards their ambitions.
We then provide a personalised budget released through our trusted partners, to help them take action on their plans.
The people we help often have no other options and there are no other services providing this support.
We ensure every penny directly contributes to breaking the cycle of homelessness for our clients.
We follow up with our clients 6-12 months on and have a clear focus on outcomes and evidence. We want to solve homelessness, not just manage it.
We provide a detailed annual report so you can know how your contributions are making a difference.
On average, it costs us just £1305 to support someone to move out of homelessness for good and this results in well over £29,000 in savings to the public purse. You can find out more details here...
What our partners say
Real stories
Verity and her baby Charlie were living with her partner and his parents, when the relationship starting turning controlling and coercive. She had no support network and felt that she had lost her independence so needed Greater Change’s help to secure her own tenancy for herself and Charlie.
“I’ve learnt so many more skills. Thank you so much for donating, Greater Change has helped me a lot.”
After a midwife identified that Mel’s home was not suitable to bring a newborn baby home to, Greater Change provided Mel, who was already 28 weeks pregnant, with funding to cover the rent and money for furnishings for a new flat which was a safe, stable and comfortable environment to complete her pregnancy and bring her baby home to.“
I felt like I was in a dungeon.I was at the pit of the dungeon but now I feel like I’m out, not fully out, but out and I can see the sunlight and I can feel the grass at the top and everything, so now I’m much better.”
Live Campaigns
Meet Lisa
"Lisa has been a pleasure to work with as she’s grown into the person she wanted to be. She’s very supportive and encouraging to others. She has now been offered a chance to build her own home through local council housing support, but needs funding to make it a reality. " - Barry Bell, Aspire Support Worker
FAQs
Greater Change’s funding comes from a range of sources including philanthropy, grants from trusts and foundations individual donations, local councils and corporate partnerships.
Greater Change supports people who, with some funding, can make a long-term positive change. We support everyone who is homeless, or at immediate risk of becoming homeless.
The charities we partner with refer people to us who would benefit from our help. We then encourage support workers to build up a relationship with individuals who are homeless, ask them what they want, and need to return to a home, and create a clear action plan and a savings target to achieve this. Savings targets are typically for housing deposits, ID, and training courses. However, we do not stipulate what the funding can be used for but take a common-sense approach to fund things which the people we are helping and their support workers demonstrate will help them back into homes and thrive there: people who are homeless have control over the process. Offering this budget shows trust, encourages engagement, and differs from typical offers of generic help. We then fundraise for their savings target. Once the target is reached, the support worker’s charity purchases the saving goal directly, to ensure accountability and transparency.
Greater Change asks all individuals and their social workers whether they would like to be on the platform. People can choose to not be on the platform and receive money from unrestricted funds. Our help is not contingent on people going on the platform.
It is not compulsory for anyone starting a fundraiser on our platform to share any details — their name, face and story could remain completely anonymised. Yet many are keen to share their stories and are excited by the opportunity to break down stigmas and preconceived judgments that people might have about homelessness. You can read these stories and learn more about the people we work with here.
There are several reasons why profiles are anonymised or not published on our platform. For example, in cases where the person we are supporting is underage or has fled from domestic abuse, it would be inappropriate to publish any identifying details.
Our flexible platform allows you to also give monthly which provides essential funding to our clients who need the money urgently or who need to remain anonymous due to safety concerns and are therefore unable to have a public facing campaign. No matter how you donate, 100% of your money will be used to help our clients.
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