Increase in homelessness this Christmas with strain on Illawarra services

From statistics to first hand experience, it seems more families will be lining up for help this year, while the usual Christmas Day lunch organised by the Wesley Uniting Church on the Mall will be a little different.

Read more: Wet weather for days across the Illawarra and NSW coast

Mandy Booker from the Wollongong Homeless Hub said they had seen a 42 per cent increase in people using their services since March, with more families coming into crisis care.

"We are expecting all our crisis accommodation to be full by Christmas Eve," she said.

"If we're full then we will have to be turning people away."

This is in line with an economic study released on Tuesday, which predicts homelessness to rise 19.1 per cent and housing stress to rise by more than 40 per cent in NSW next year, due to the impact of the pandemic.

Read more: Musical caravan among Illawarra arts projects to share cash splash from Create NSW

Locally, the Everybody's Home report predicts housing stress to increase by 9.6 per cent for the Illawarra and 63.8 per cent for the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven (from February this year to June 2021).

It comes as Wesley Uniting Church will not be serving up a feast to the disadvantaged on December 25, but instead will be offering a takeaway meal to those who visit on Christmas Eve for lunch.

"Due to physical spacing we're not able to run it this year because the whole vibe of the affair is having everybody squashed in and having that sense of it being a really buzzing Christmas party," Reverend Geoff Flynn said.

"With COVID-19, we converted our regular lunch-time program to a take-away meals program. So we've been serving 60-70 take away lunches right throughout the COVID period.

"So folk are in the habit of coming and getting a takeaway meal."

Rev Flynn said there were expecting more people for the festive spread than the average of late.

Read more: Free mental health coaching rolled out across the Illawarra and South Coast

It's not only a vulnerable time of year for people in need but also those wanting to lend a hand with donations, as others take advantage of the giving spirit.

Ms Booker urged the community to only hand over cash or donations to registered charities.

"We're encouraging everybody that is looking to donate, that they're looking to donate through a registered charity so they can see where the donations are going to," she said.

According to the consumer watchdog, people are getting duped by fake charity scams all year round.

"[They] often take the form of a response to real disasters or emergencies, such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes and bushfires," the ACCC said on their Scamwatch website.

"Scammers will pose as either agents of legitimate well-known charities or create their own charity name ... they may also pose as individuals needing donations for health or other reasons."