#NoHomeKit Campaign for Shelter Sees Nearly 1,000 Clubs Signing Up in Support of Ending Homelessness

This year’s #NoHomeKit campaign has seen almost 1,000 clubs signing up to swap their home kit for their away kit for games over the festive period, nearly quadrupling last year’s number of 260 clubs. This is the second year running Dark Horses has teamed up with housing charity Shelter to use the #NoHomeKit campaign to tackle homelessness at Christmas. 

Clubs and fans supporting the campaign, will swap their familiar home colours for an away or third kit for Christmas fixtures, all in aid of those with no safe place to call home. 

Dark Horses is expanding the initiative further with creative executions across OOH and social channels, spreading awareness of the issue amongst fans. 

Also throwing his support behind the campaign this year is pop superstar and football fan Tom Grennan, leading a stellar cast of celebrities who will be donning their away and third shirts in the coming weeks and encouraging donations to Shelter.

Dark Horses has also set up partnerships with brands including Classic Football Shirts and Mitre, as well as with several broadcasters and football media organisations, such as Reach PLC, who will provide ongoing coverage to raise awareness of the campaign. 

Clubs and league organisations from across football have pledged their support for year two. Every men’s team across the top 4 divisions in Scotland and every Scottish women’s team will take part this year, meaning for the first time ever, Celtic will forgo their iconic green hoops at Celtic Park. 

Clubs in the EFL, including Watford, Coventry City and Derby County, are also back having supported so successfully last season, with Premier League club Brighton supporting off the pitch due to PL rules preventing a kit change during the game. 

Last year was the first installment of #NoHomeKit which - despite dozens of COVID-related fixture postponements - was a resounding success for the charity. More than  260 clubs from across the football pyramid took part, with celebrities like Peter Crouch, Mel C and Sadiq Khan donning away kits on Twitter. During the campaign period, the charity saw an uplift in donations of over £500k, which has helped find Shelter frontline services and the fight against bad housing and homelessness.

Dark Horses was again chosen for the brief by Shelter because of its deep understanding of sport and how it can be leveraged to create a positive and lasting change in society. It has already created similar campaigns for the likes of the FA, helping launch its Heads Up campaign as well as charity Football Beyond Borders, raising issues within the UK education system. 

As the cost of living crisis continues, the demand for Shelter services is intensifying, with 25 households made homeless every 90 minutes. That means between the first and last whistle of any football match, 25 households will no longer have a safe or secure place to call home. Thousands of people will be spending Christmas in dingy hostels, on friends’ sofas, or even sleeping in freezing cars.

Mark Lloyd, strategy director at Dark Horses, said: “Homelessness is out of control, but despite this, it continues to be a largely invisible crisis. By using football's most visible asset - the home kit players wear on the pitch - this campaign aims to change that. The support from clubs and league organisations has been fantastic in preparing for year two of #NoHomeKit, setting us up to make this campaign a regular fixture in the football calendar.”

Osama Bhutta, director of campaigns at Shelter, said: “Last year it was fantastic to see fans and teams across the country come together to fight the housing emergency. Our frontline services are braced for an incredibly tough winter as the cost of living crisis bites, so it’s brilliant that so many teams, fans and celebrities are stepping up to make #NoHomeKit even bigger this Christmas. The dedication, creativity and expertise of the Dark Horses team has been instrumental in bringing football together for this vital cause.”

As well as wearing their away shirts for their team’s festive fixture, fans can directly support Shelter by donating £5 to the campaign by texting ’HOME’ to 70455, or by visiting here. (Texts cost your standard network rate + £5, and Shelter receives 100% of your donation).