Warming Up the Homeless

Rotary Club of Senlac St Leonards
Warming up the Homeless

The CEO of Warming up the Homeless, Trudy Hampton, was the guest speaker at
the club’s meeting on 7 th January. Introduced by President Terry Mahindrakar who
has chosen the charity to be her President’s Charity for 2025-2026, Trudy spoke how
the charity has progressed from its humble beginnings in 2015 to its much expanded
role in caring for the homeless in East Sussex.
Warming up the Homeless is an award-winning, registered frontline charity
supporting homeless people on the South East Coast from Hastings to Eastbourne
and surrounding areas. The charity has been operating since 2015, acting as a
conduit between the raw edge of homelessness and statutory agencies: providing
daily outreach support, food banks and welfare advocacy. The rate of homelessness
has increased exponentially, exacerbated further by the current cost of living crisis,
affecting visible rough sleepers and more invisible homeless, such as sofa surfers
and those without a fixed tenancy agreement.
Starting as a street based “trolley” service of hot drinks, food, bedding and clothing in
Eastbourne the charity now has centres in Hastings and Bexhill, outreach services in
Eastbourne, a home start scheme, banking and technology support, food and baby
needs banks, pre- and post- prison support. Advice and counselling services are
available. Strong links have been forged with other agencies and councils.
All of these services come at a cost and fund raising plays a large part in the
charity’s activities. Income from the shops is not enough so grants, organised events
and individual donations are essential to keep the services running. For more
information see the charity’s website https://wuth.org/.