Second lock-down or not, the chaos that has already ensued this year means Christmas is guaranteed to be unlike any other. What might Christmas look like in a coronavirus world? For most of us, it is usually a time of celebration with family and friends, but for those who are homeless, it's too often a day of painful memories of wrong turns, families lost and forgotten love.

We all know Christmas gatherings are going to be smaller this year, but for those sleeping rough, it is likely to be a very lonely Christmas.

The Whitechapel Mission is preparing for Christmas and the New Year. Nobody should be alone at Christmas

Your gifts help restore broken lives and broken families all year-round, providing homeless men and women with hot meals, safe shelter, and hope. But at Christmas, your generosity gives them something more here at The Whitechapel Mission, a taste of family and the love we all crave. Thank you!

As the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in all communal night shelters having to remain closed, the number of Winter Night shelters is going to be severely reduced this winter.

We are expecting to see a higher number of people sleeping on our streets this Christmas and winter.

In addition we are awaiting news from national charities, regarding their annual Christmas services, but it is looking like the pandemic is going to severely reduce the services they can offer this year.

We will be open this Christmas, and throughout the winter, to ensure that everybody in need of hot food, showers, clothing, advice and safety will have somewhere to go.

The welfare and safety of our guests is our most important priority and has been at the forefront of all of our planning and decision making.

Volunteers are at the heart of what we do all year round, and this year will be no different. Sadly, because of the changes needed in order to keep everybody safe this year, we will require significantly less volunteers.