Crisis Coffee Week Flyer. Image: http://www.crisis.org.uk

Ahead of the London Coffee Festival next week- the UK’s biggest coffee and artisan food event- British charity Crisis have organised their own six day celebration of the humble coffee bean.

Twelve London based roasters have pledged their baristas at Cafe from Crisis to raise money to help single homeless people in the UK.

Coffees are just £1 and all proceeds go to the charity.

It is not too late to get in on the action on Commercial Street, with two more days of fundraising to go.

Last week new statutory homelessness figures were released which showed homelessness in London had increased by 10%,  compared to the previous year.

In England as a whole, the amount of households regarded as homeless had increased by 6%.

Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of Crisis, explained some of the reasons why homelessness in the UK is soaring:

We already have a huge task ahead of us, and many of the underlying causes remain: more and more people are struggling to pay their rent in an increasingly insecure market, while cuts to housing benefit and local council funding have left the safety net in tatters.

There was some positive news with the number of people accepted as homeless dropping by 67% in Wales.

Mr. Sparkes stressed the need to emulate the Welsh Government’s successful legislation here in England, which would require councils by law to help prevent people from becoming homeless.

We strongly urge the government to follow through on its commitment to consider options – including legislation – to prevent more people from becoming homeless. It is essential that all homeless people can get the help they need and that councils get the necessary funding to deliver on this.