Make This Someone’s Last Winter on the Streets

U-turn Launches Winter Campaign to Provide Warmth and Long-term Support

Cape Town, South Africa – June 2025
As freezing nights set in across the country, U-turn Homeless Ministries has launched its Winter Campaign, an urgent appeal to the public to help provide warmth and long-term support to people experiencing homelessness.

With over 14,000 people sleeping rough during South Africa’s coldest months, the campaign calls on individuals, communities, and businesses to donate warm clothes, blankets, and funds to support U-turn’s life-changing rehabilitation services.

“This campaign is about more than a blanket,” says Jean-Ray Knighton-Fitt, CEO of U-turn. “It’s about dignity, it’s about survival, and ultimately, it’s about transformation. Every donation helps someone not only get through the night but take their next step off the street.”

The campaign’s theme, “Hope Is The Warmest Gift” Make it their last winter on the street, reflects U-turn’s mission to not only meet basic needs during winter but to connect individuals with long-term solutions including substance abuse recovery, mental health support, job readiness training, and transitional housing.

Donations raised will go toward:

Providing blankets, jackets, and hot meals during the coldest months
Expanding safe space accommodation
Supporting rehabilitation and work-readiness programmes that enable sustainable exits from homelessness

Through its proven programme, U-turn helped over 300 individuals take meaningful steps toward independence in the past year alone.

“We see people every day who want to change their lives but can’t do it alone,” says Brandon Weber, Partnerships Manager. “Winter is a brutal reminder of how vulnerable life on the street can be. But it’s also an opportunity for South Africans to come together and create real, lasting change.”

U-turn invites the public to get involved in three key ways:

Donate warm clothes, blankets, and funds https://homeless.org.za/donate-goods/
Host a Winter Drive at Canal Walk and Constantia Village
Spread the message by sharing campaign materials online and using the hashtag #HopeIsTheWarmestGift #GiveWithPurpose

To donate or learn more about how to get involved, visit www.homeless.org.za/winter or email info@homeless.org.za.

Together, we can ensure this winter is someone’s last spent on the streets.