Dan Skeates: Rotary backpacks

11 June 2026: Rotary backpacks

Members will remember our recent project to fill backpacks with selected items to give to homeless people. Today Dan Skeate from Cool to be Kind came to tell us more about the charity behind it.

Official estimates place the number of homeless households in Essex at about 4,000 including over 200 rough sleepers. Of these, 2,500 are households with children. 500 households have been placed in temporary accommodation outside their local area, which causes particular problems with children’s schooling.

Cool to be Kind was founded by five friends living in the Moulsham area and registered as a charity. Together with other charities and statutory authorities, it is a member of the Chelmsford Homelessness Forum. It supports approximately 130 rough sleepers and vulnerable people each week: 30 with warm clothes, 50 with food and 50 through the charity’s Street Support Chelmsford online directory.

The rucksack package has been run for the last eight years and seen over 1,000 rucksacks donated. Food and warm clothing is delivered to rough sleepers and vulnerable people in central Chelmsford every Wednesday evening.