As winter draws in, and the nights become shorter and colder, we should spare a thought for those less fortunate than us who are experiencing homelessness. Over the last decade, the number of people sleeping on the streets has grown steadily. Official ‘rough sleeping’ figures are often thought to be a considerable underestimate as they rely on single night counts by local authorities. Whilst more needs to be done in society to help tackle this issue, there are some charities that are trying to make a real difference - Standing Tall is one of those charities.

Standing Tall is a Birmingham-based charity that aims to provide opportunities, to give hope and to change the public's perception of people experiencing homelessness. The goal is to match people who have experienced homelessness into stable jobs in local businesses and help them leave the streets for good. Standing Tall employs the individual on behalf of the employer partner for 3 months. The employer partner contributes to the living wage salary for this period before taking on the employment from month 4. Standing Tall has helped 8 people to start work since April 2021 and are on track to enable 20 individuals to move away from the streets for good by April 2022.

From 1-24 December, Standing Tall is running a Christmas Challenge to crowdfund and raise £10,000 so the charity can help more people to move off the streets in 2022.

The trainees at Anthony Collins Solicitors will be doing their part on Monday 13 December to try and raise as much money as they can to support Standing Tall.

The trainees will be taking part in their very own 12 K's of Christmas. Each trainee will participate in one of the following challenges:

- walk 12,000 steps

- run 12km

- cycle 12km

All of the above will be completed within the working day of Monday 13 December as required by the challenge.

Please consider donating to this fantastic cause. All monies donated will be helping Standing Tall to continue making a difference in tackling homelessness and moving people away from the streets for good.

All donations will be welcomed and greatly appreciated. Please donate on the JustGiving page here.