Homeless boy, 11, writes to Santa asking for a ‘forever home’ 

Stuck in temporary accommodation with his family, Liam Walker has only one wish in his letter to Santa.

The 11-year-old says that he wants a ‘forever home’ because ‘everyone is sad here’ and his toys are in storage.  

Rather than ask for new gifts, he tells Father Christmas that he wants a bedroom with a desk where he can build his Lego models.  

In his letter addressed to ‘Santa Claus, North Pole’, Liam says: ‘This year for Christmas please can I have a forever home.’ 

He says he doesn’t want any toys, just his old ones which are in storage, along with the bedroom where he can build Lego models. 

Liam writes: ‘Everyone is sad living here and I just want us to be happy again. Thank you and have a lovely Christmas.’

Liam is far from alone. His case is being highlighted by Shelter, which is supporting the family, as the charity calls for action over the record number of children in temporary homes. 

Almost 139,000 children were in stop-gap accommodation including hotels and B&Bs as of June this year, according to government figures.  

‘How will Santa find me?’

The letter has been publicised by the housing and homelessness charity as part of its campaign to draw attention to the plight of families like the Walkers who are waiting for settled homes.  

Almost 68,000 households representing 138,930 children in England were in temporary accommodation as of June this year, the figures show. 

Marcel, who has global development delay and learning difficulties. is another of the children behind the statistics.

The eight-year-old, appearing in an episode of BBC Wales Investigates, asked his mum Sarah: ‘How will Santa find me?’ 

Marcel is not able to understand why he and his mum are no longer living in their Cardiff home after they were evicted. They have been housed in a hotel in the city for the last three months. 

Also living in uncertainty are Kim and her daughters aged 10 and 19.  

Kim, 45, received a drastic rent increase, followed by a Section 21 no-fault eviction from the flat in south London where she has lived for 17 years.  

On the day of the eviction, she was forced to wait for council assistance on the street outside the town hall buildings with her children.

The family was first put up in a mice-infested room with a shared bathroom and kitchen at a hostel in the area.

After several months, they were moved to other temporary accommodation in Essex, a two-hour drive from her youngest daughter’s school.  

Kim, speaking under a pseudonym, said of the hostel: ‘We were basically living in a mice-infested room. I’d go out and get shopping for my children and the mice would chew through all of the food bags.

‘We had to share a bathroom with strangers and the room just had a fridge and a bed, so we were basically living out of bags. I couldn’t sleep.  

‘Nobody seems to take into consideration what physical and mental effect being homeless has on a child.

‘My children came from a stable home for so many years and were suddenly thrown into a single room and you’re having to share facilities with everyone around you. Of course that will affect them.’ 

‘Little space to sleep, eat or play’

Shelter has identified ‘record-high private rents’ as being a key part of the problem, with households struggling amid the cost of living crisis.    

Chief executive Polly Neate told Metro.co.uk: ‘It’s nothing short of a national disgrace that a record 139,000 children will wake up on Christmas morning without a safe place to call home.    

‘Every day our frontline services hear from parents who are desperately trying to provide some shred of a normal Christmas for their children while stuck in cold and damaging temporary accommodation.   

‘We know from our research that living in one room in a homeless B&B or hostel, with precious little space to sleep, eat or play, can seriously harm a child’s wellbeing and development.    

‘The solution to ending homelessness is clear – the government must build 90,000 genuinely affordable social homes a year. 

‘Until then, Shelter will continue doing everything we can to help families find or keep hold of a safe home this winter.

‘But as more and more families turn to Shelter for support, we’re relying on the public’s generosity to help us keep up with rising demand.’ 

The government maintains that it has taken a range of measures to address homelessness, including through housing reforms, funding for councils and delivering more than 684,000 new affordable homes since 2010.  

A spokesperson for The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: ‘Temporary accommodation helps to ensure that no family is without a roof over their head. 

‘But councils must ensure it is suitable for families who have the right to appeal if it doesn’t meet their needs.  

‘We are giving councils £1 billion over three years to help provide financial support for people to find a new home and move out of temporary accommodation, targeted to areas where it is needed most.’

Donate to Shelter’s Winter Appeal here: shelter.org.uk/donate 

MORE : Record number of children facing homelessness at Christmas

MORE : Homeless boy’s devastating question after he and his mum were evicted

Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact josh.layton@metro.co.uk