Pass It On all started as a chance encounter in London
In September 2017 our founder, Jonathan Bunting (CEO of Smiths News, our founding sponsor) was walking to his car when he met a homeless person who asked him for some help.
He bought them a sandwich, a hot drink, and had a five-minute chat about how they came to be on the streets.
It was small gesture, and yet driving home, he reflected on the positive impact that it appeared to have. There must be more, he thought, that Smiths News could do to help the homeless and vulnerable in the UK. What if we simply donated warm clothes, bought some hot drinks and gave a little of our time in tangible support?
Within weeks
We had a team of enthusiastic volunteers and a target of sourcing 500 items of quality warm clothing and sleeping bags.
As it turned out, that first year over 1000 items were donated – enough to visit 12 UK cities and help hundreds of homeless people over the winter period.
Since then
Pass It On has helped over 6,600 homeless and vulnerable people in the UK
Providing warm clothes, sleeping bags, toiletries, hot drinks and food, and just as importantly a friendly face to have a conversation with. Across the 4 years we have given out just over 13,000 items.
6,600
Homeless and vulnerable people helped
11,300
CUPS OF COFFEE DELIVERED
4,600
Care Packs Delivered
Our individual and corporate supporters
Thanks to the generosity of our individual and corporate sponsors what started off as a small campaign to help has now grown into a full scale organisation with charitable status.
Pass It On is not a political or lobbying organisation; we don’t spend money on wider campaigns which others are better placed to pursue. Rather, we focus on practical and friendly support that makes an immediate difference to those thousands of people who for whatever reason are living on the streets.
We’ve come a long way from that first encounter in London – and yet, in a sense, what we do hasn’t changed at all.
JOIN US AND HELP US BY DONATING YOUR TIME
We are always looking for volunteers to help collect, sort and distribute donations across the UK. Please get in touch if you have some time to spare and would like to get involved.