“Temporary accommodation is the worst thing – it’s like a workhouse.”

These are the words of Yaqub, one of three primary school-aged boys who feature in Channel 4’s recent Dispatches show, entitled ‘Growing Up Poor: Britain’s Hidden Homeless Kids’.

Yaqub shares a bunk bed with his mum and younger sister in a hostel room in Luton. He knows he needs a home if he’s going to realise his dreams. Despite only being in Year Four, Yaqub has ambitions of becoming an engineer one day. But he’s held back by the day-to-day reality of life as one of Britain’s 120,000 homeless children.

We hear from parents every day who are struggling to keep a roof over their children’s heads. Housing costs are almost every family’s biggest outgoing – and their biggest worry.

Without enough social homes that people on low incomes can afford, hundreds of thousands of families instead live in overcrowded rentals. There’s no space for their children to play or concentrate on their homework – and the constant threat of eviction hangs over their heads.

There are also thousands of families like Yaqub’s which have been tipped into homelessness and trapped in unsuitable emergency accommodation. Not just for a few weeks, but for sometimes years at a time. No child should have to share a bathroom with strangers, eat from foodbank carrier bags on their bedroom floor or share a single bed with their parent or sibling.

With food and energy prices soaring and the cut to the Universal Credit sinking in, we risk failing even more children if we don’t do something drastic about the cost of housing today.

Join Team Shelter

Shelter’s campaign for more social housing aims to build a better future for the 120,000 homeless children in Britain. By signing up to Team Shelter for the TCS London Marathon, you'll be making a huge difference to children like Yaqub who are trapped in temporary accommodation or facing homelessness.

All our fundraisers get the very best from us, including:

• a Shelter technical running top
• top quality training plans created by our running partner, Let’s Get Running
• personal training support from running experts and access to training guides and resources
• access to our TCS London Marathon Workshop to talk through the logistics of the event
• team training and information sessions
• fundraising advice
• last-minute support and information at our stall at the TCS London Marathon Running Show
• a post-race reception where you’ll receive a hero’s welcome!

If you use your TCS London Marathon ballot place to run for us, you won’t have a minimum fundraising target – just raise what you can. By fundraising for Shelter, you are joining the fight to defend people’s right to a safe and secure home.

We look forward to welcoming you to Team Shelter! To get going, click here.