Keep up to date with all things festive on our Christmas 2026 in London page.
Christmas is a magical time of year, where you kick back and relax with the family. At least it should be. Not everyone can enjoy that luxury, but you can help. Here are some of the places you can volunteer for charities in London for Christmas 2026.
Crisis at Christmas volunteering: Christmas 2026
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The biggest volunteering operation across the nation every Christmas takes place in Crisis's day centres and rough sleeper centres, and it's been running for more than 50 years. Crisis at Christmas has an abundance of ways you can help make someone else's yuletide that extra bit special across hotels (this year in east London), day centres (Paddington, Elephant & Castle, and Stratford — all open 24-28 December 2026) and call centres. Following a successful trial last year, the women-led hotel returns to east London during Christmas 2026 (open 21 December-12 January), to help women experiencing homelessness.
Crisis has many volunteer roles — from drivers to hairdressers — but the key roles involve:
🙂 Welcoming and supporting guests – greetings, conversations, puzzles and games
🙂 Serving food and drinks
🙂 Helping with activities and services – arts, sports, salon or healthcare appointments
🙂 Keeping spaces safe and tidy
Have a look at the impact of Crisis at Christmas:
Most Crisis at Christmas volunteers will need to commit to a minimum of two shifts
Applications are now open. See also Crisis's ideas for fundraising, ahead of Christmas, as well as the charity's Wishlist, where you can donate items needed to help it provide its services.
Volunteer with The London Basket Brigade: Christmas 2026
The Basket Brigade puts food on the tables of families in need on Christmas Day. Up to 1,500 baskets are delivered on 23 December, and this requires hundreds of volunteers — both to put the baskets together, and to drive and deliver them. The base for this year remains Woodside High School near Wood Green. They also need help raising the funds to provide the baskets. Registration is now open for 2026 volunteering.
Rotary Club Christmas Day 2026 volunteering
Rotary Club holds a massive Christmas Day lunch and tea party for over-65s living in Wandsworth. The shindig takes place in Battersea Park, with around 400 elderly people who would otherwise be alone taking part each year.
Volunteers are usually needed for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. You can do just one, two, or all three days. Jobs include preparing the venue, helping with transport for the guests, serving food and clearing up afterwards. Applications to volunteer for Christmas 2026 are now open.
Volunteer at Jacksons Lane on Christmas Day 2026
Highgate-based arts centre Jacksons Lane has opened its doors on Christmas Day for more than 50 years, offering older adults in Haringey and north London somewhere to spend the big day, combating loneliness and isolation. Attendees are provided with a three-course Christmas dinner, enjoyed alongside a programme of live music, carols and choir performances.
Of course, volunteers are needed to make this happen, undertaking tasks from cooking and serving meals to wrapping presents, and collecting attendees from their homes and getting them to the event safely. Find out more and apply for Christmas 2026.
Christmas Eve 2026 volunteering with Sant'Egidio London
Every year, the London branch of the Sant'Egidio church serves a Christmas Eve lunch at St Cuthbert's Church in Earl's Court, inviting the homeless, the elderly, and anyone else who would otherwise be alone to partake in a community dinner. Volunteers are needed both before and on Christmas Eve to help organise and serve the meal. Applications for 2026 will open soon.
Salvation Army volunteering: Christmas 2026
Salvation Army churches are busy at Christmas, running the annual Christmas Present Appeal as well as hosting night shelters. You may be needed to sort through donated toys and gifts, serve festive meals or help out in other ways at night shelters. The website lays out the various roles available for volunteering at Christmas 2026.
WrapUp London coat collection: Christmas 2026
Got an old spare winter coat kicking around? WrapUp London would love to have it to reassign to someone who needs it, including homeless people, refugees, and families in emergency accommodation. Drop off points are open across London from 2-22 November 2026, and you can find volunteering opportunities linked to WrapUp London on the HandsOn London page.
Volunteer for the Felix Project's Winter Food Collection: Christmas 2026
Throughout the UK, food waste prevention organisation Felix holds a winter food collection at Tesco stores. It's searching for volunteers to take on shifts between 26-28 November 2026, to help collect donations of food in your local Tesco supermarket. Food collected is distributed among individuals and families in the UK who most need it. Find out more and sign up.
Volunteer at London winter night shelters: Christmas 2026
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Plenty of homeless shelters operate in London and are very worthy of help. Sleeping rough on the streets of London in winter is a horrible experience, and shelters try to alleviate these issues, and give people a warm place to sleep for the night. Some open just for the winter, whereas others open all year. Here are a few which are currently looking for volunteers:
- Shelter From The Storm: This homeless shelter in Islington is open all year round, but demand is higher in the winter, and people are needed for shifts. Tasks include cleaning, cooking, serving food and talking to guests on evening, overnight and breakfast shifts. Find out more here.
- Hackney Winter Night Shelter: Open from November to March each year, Hackney Winter Night Shelter provides a bed for the night and a hot meal for people who would otherwise be sleeping on the streets, and it needs volunteers throughout the season. Tasks include cooking and serving meals, doing laundry, getting to know the people staying there, and staying overnight to make sure everything runs smoothly. Find out more and volunteer.
- The Whitechapel Mission: Homeless shelter The Whitechapel Mission receives as many as 300 visitors a day during December, and it needs a willing group of volunteers to provide for all these guests. You'll be giving not only warm food, but a touch of warmth to the lives of those less fortunate — truly in the spirit of the Christmas holiday. They need extra help to sort the donations received, but note that volunteering opportunities here are strictly for teams rather than individuals.
There are plenty of other winter night shelters across London — why not contact your nearest one and see if it needs volunteers this year.
Christmas volunteering with St Mungo's: Christmas 2026
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Homelessness charity St Mungo's recruits volunteers to shake a collection bucket at train stations at Christmas — and spread festive cheer as you do so. Keep an eye on the volunteering page for 2026 opportunities.
Various shifts are usually available at different London stations (Waterloo, Paddington, Euston, King's Cross, Victoria, London Bridge, Charing Cross) on set days in mid-December.
Simply Volunteer Christmas volunteering
Simply Volunteer is the ultimate search tool for volunteering opportunities. These aren't necessarily Christmas related — the service runs all year-round — but type the keyword 'Christmas' into the search engine if you want your volunteering to be festive flavoured. You can also search by other interests, for example, if you want to volunteer with the elderly, or help the homeless.
Festive volunteering roles in previous years have included Christmas bucket collections, and volunteering at charity Christmas concerts and fundraising fairs.
Festive fundraising events in London: Christmas 2026
Want to do a good deed this Christmas, but don't have the time or resources to volunteer? How about taking part in a festive fundraising event instead? Here are a few that've caught our eye for Christmas 2026:
🚲 The 14th annual Santa Charity Cycle takes place in Richmond; don a Santa suit and ride 15.5km to raise money for Shooting Star Children's Hospice in Hampton. 5 December 2026
🧑🎄 Alternatively, put your Santa suit to use to walk or run 3km or 5km through central London at night. The Santa in the City route begins in Paternoster Square and crosses the Thames four times, raising money for a selection of charity partners. 8-10 December 2026
🌹 The Ever After Garden opens in Duke of York Square in Chelsea in the lead-up to Christmas, a glowing field of white roses where anyone can sponsor a flower (suggestion donation £15) in memory of a loved one. 5 November-21 December 2026
🎵 And of course, London is packed full of Christmas carol concerts at this time of year, many of them raising crucial funds for charities. Macmillan, WaterAid, Save The Children, and Action Syria is just a selection of the charities you can support this year.
