York Road Project: Now We Are 30!

Aim: 30 years tackling homelessness, financial hardship & wellbeing… Now We Are 30! celebrates the lives we’ve transformed, by funding our future

Every £1 you donate to Now We Are 30! will be doubled by the Aviva Community Fund. With Gift Aid too, a £30 birthday donation from you is worth £67.50 to us!*

The Aviva Community Fund are supporting this campaign due to the impact we have on our clients' financial wellbeing. Financial crises are often a major reason for homelessness, so this has been at the heart of what we do for 30 years - and will be even more critical in the future, as the current economic environment becomes a key cause of homelessness.

Who are we, and what is Now We Are 30! about?

York Road Project has been defeating homelessness in Woking since 1995: thirty years this year! In that time we have transformed thousands of lives and prevented hundreds of local people from ending up on, remaining on, or returning to the streets. 

In the last two years alone we have had over 400 people come and ask for our help: that's 1 for every 250 local residents.

"York Road Project always want to help and give me another chance. They believe in me always - when I never do in myself."

Thanks to match funding from the Aviva Community Fund, our Now We Are 30! campaign will help us celebrate our birthday and keep on tackling homelessness in our community - for now and the future. Every £1 you donate will be doubled - a really generous offer from the Aviva Community Fund to mark our birthday!

York Road Project supports single, adult individuals who are experiencing homelessness in any way:

- Our Resource Centre offers essential facilities to rough sleepers, such as showers, washing machines, food and hot drinks.

- Our flagship centre on 1 York Road is the only direct access accommodation in Surrey, offering a bed and 24 hour support to up to 10 clients at any one time.

- Our Move On properties offer affordable longer-term accommodation to clients who need more support to help rebuild their lives - for instance finding jobs, securing sustainable accommodation, and improving their mental and physical health.

- Our Outreach Team are often the first people to engage with rough sleepers on the street.

- Our Tenancy Sustainment service helps clients to stay in permanent accommodation once they find it. 

- Our Changing Journeys coaching programme helps people make meaningful changes across their whole lives.

Why now? Rising homelessness and the need for financial resilience

With the cost of living crisis over the past few years, financial resilience has become a key reason why people become homeless. Not being able to pay the rent is now one of the top two causes for homelessness in Woking. Meanwhile, across the UK the number of households in temporary accommodation has increased by an astonishing 14% since last year alone.

York Road Project is poised to tackle this in Woking. We support people once their financial issues have reached crisis point: through our temporary accommodation and homelessness services, of course; but we also deliver work that helps ensure people don't get to this stage in the first place. Our Tenancy Sustainment service, for instance, provides expert help for clients to tackle financial, personal and practical issues that might prevent them from staying in their home. Meanwhile, our coaching and wellbeing support services are key to helping clients rebuild their lives; ensuring clients can secure sustainable employment, access any support to which they're entitled, and become financially resilient beyond our service.

Why are we fundraising?

Our Now We Are 30! campaign marks our 30th anniversary: and, for this special occasion, every £1 is doubled by the Aviva Community Fund. Despite the challenging economic environment, we have big plans for the future - we've been defeating homelessness for three decades, and our work is not yet done.

Help us celebrate the lives we have transformed over the last thirty years, and make a difference to people who are struggling right now.

We will spend the funding we raise by running our unique services, ensuring that we can continue to deliver our work in full. Every year we require more and more charitable funding to meet increasing need (usually in a context of reduced income). By supporting our campaign, you will be helping to ensure that York Road Project is there to give someone in a need a bed; to give someone rough sleeping a hot shower and a breakfast; to help someone on the cusp of eviction to stay in their home.

"There's many mountains to climb through life, I'm still climbing today. York Road Project gives me the fuel to carry on climbing these mountains."

How you can help

There are many ways to get involved with Now We Are 30!:

1. Donate £30 (or any other amount!)

Why not donate £1 for every year we've been working? This will help us keep on tackling homelessness in 2025 and beyond. And it will be doubled by the Aviva Community Fund, meaning a £30 donation is worth £60 to us (£67.50 if it's Gift Aid eligible too!).

2. Spread the word

Share our campaign with friends, family and your wider network. The more people we reach, the more likely we are to raise the funds we need!

3. Party with us

Buy a ticket (or a whole table!) for our 30th Birthday Ball - a black tie celebration at Hilton Woking on World Homeless Day, 10th October 2025, to celebrate our past and look to the future. Tickets are available here.

4. Get quizzical

As part of Now We Are 30! , we're celebrating with a fun quiz in Woking on the 17th July 2025. Why not come on down, celebrate with us and test your wits against our other supporters? Tickets for our Big Birthday Quiz are available here for just a £10 donation (nibbles and hot drinks included, feel free to bring a bottle or two of something alcoholic!)

5. Wear our logo with pride

Donate £30 or more to receive your very own shiny blue YRP enamel badge! Limited stock available to celebrate our 30th birthday year.

*The Aviva Community Fund will double individual donations up to £250 per donation

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 31st July 2025 at 11:28am