As Bury St Edmunds comes together for the town’s annual Christmas lights event, Bury Drop In will once again be joining the celebrations while raising awareness of homelessness and the support available to people in need.

This year, the charity will launch a Christmas tree campaign featuring keys alongside gift tags with space for a message. The campaign will invite the community to help open the door to a safer future for people experiencing homelessness.

Members of the public will be encouraged to engage with the campaign and reflect on what having a safe place to call home means, while learning how they can support Bury Drop In’s work with people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. People are invited to hang their gift tags on the tree or take them home.

The campaign comes at an important moment nationally. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged that everyone sleeping rough should be offered a route off the streets before Christmas. The charity sees the Christmas pledge as a first step of a holistic action plan. Lasting change requires agencies to work together to provide more affordable housing, better access to physical and mental health support, homelessness prevention and local services that help people rebuild their lives. Bury Drop In will continue campaigning for long-term solutions and working with partners to support people affected by homelessness.

Ally Gill, Marketing and Communications Manager at Bury Drop In, said:

“Christmas is a time when we talk a lot about home, family and belonging, but for someone facing homelessness, having a safe place to call home can feel a long way away. Our Christmas campaign is about hope and action. The keys represent something simple but incredibly powerful: the chance to open the door to a safe home and a new beginning.

The Prime Minister’s commitment to offer everyone sleeping rough a route off the streets before Christmas sends an important message that homelessness should never be accepted as inevitable. Here in Bury St Edmunds, we want people to add their voice to that message. Every gift tag on our tree is a reminder that behind homelessness is an individual with their own story, and that with the right long-term support there can be a route forward.”

The Christmas lights event offers an opportunity for the charity to speak directly with the local community about this work and the different ways people can help. The public are encouraged to visit Bury Drop In’s Christmas tree, and take part in the campaign, speak to volunteers and find out how they can support the charity. Come along and say hello to the Bury Drop In team at stand 40, outside the Cornish Bakery on the Buttermarket, from 3pm to 8pm on Thursday 19 November 2026.