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Winter is a grim time to be homeless, and support for the London homeless is scarce. I’d like to devote this blog to two very different commercial organisations who are trying to make a difference to London’s homeless through two excellent London charities.

Firstly I would like to applaud Nick Dare, Developer, & Property Trust Manager who has set up a competition to predict the year end property prices which has raised £290 so far for St. Martins in the Fields homeless charity. Lets hope that the contributions will continue to rise. I would particularly like to highlight Nick’s initiative because it is a personal action – so often we feel that we don’t make a difference to society – Nick took an initiative, and made it work, it is a personal contribution that I feel needs recognition.

Secondly I would like to commend Victoria for their support of  The Passage . I can state from my personal experience that The Passage is a highly effective charity dealing with some of the biggest problems that our society throws up – they record that 3,673 slept rough in London in the year to 31 March 2010 – a 20% increase in two years. Their aim is to provide homeless people with support to transform their own lives.

Currently in SW1 the Diverted Giving scheme will be maintained by The Passage, whose mission is to provide the resources to encourage, inspire and challenge homeless people to transform their lives. The Diverted Giving scheme encourage people to place money in strategically located boxes rather than giving directly to people begging on the street. Its primary objective is to reduce active begging on the streets while at the same time directing funds to The Passage, with a proven track record of helping vulnerable people find practical ways of building their lives without resorting to begging on streets of Westminster.

Some might consider that the objective is to take the problem out of sight, but I consider that any attempt to address the problem is to be applauded.