Homelessness charity Shelter invite people to use THEIR virtual log fire on Youtube

A Christmas advert with a difference! Homelessness charity Shelter asks Brits to stream its virtual log fire on YouTube – and promises all ad revenue from the video will help provide housing for rough sleepers

  • Shelter released its poignant Christmas advert, showing a woman on the streets
  • The charity asked British public to stream its virtual log fire video on YouTube
  • All ad-generated revenue from the video will fund housing for rough sleepers  
  • Director of fundraising at Shelter Andy Harris said: ‘By watching “The Good Fire” from your own home, you can help us fight for a safe home for everyone’


Shelter today released a poignant Christmas advert asking Brits to use its virtual log fire online – with all ad revenue from the YouTube clip providing housing for rough sleepers. 

The homeless charity’s festive offering shows a woman relaxing inside her cosy and comfortable home while watching a video of a fire on a TV, before the camera pans out to reveal a second woman sleeping rough outside in the snow.

Meanwhile Shelter urged Brits who might usually watch a virtual fire on YouTube to instead search the site for ‘The Good Fire’, a 10 hour long video of a fireplace. 

All the advert revenue from the YouTube video will be donated straight to Shelter, going towards the charity’s efforts to provide housing for rough sleepers.   

Shelter today released a poignant Christmas advert asking Brits to use their virtual log fire online – with all ad revenue from the clip providing housing for rough sleepers

The homeless charity's festive offering shows a woman relaxing inside her cosy and comfortable home while watching a video fire on a TV, before the camera pans out to reveal a second woman sleeping rough outside in the show

The homeless charity’s festive offering shows a woman relaxing inside her cosy and comfortable home while watching a video fire on a TV, before the camera pans out to reveal a second woman sleeping rough outside in the show 

Virtual log fires have become increasingly popular in recent years, with some people relying on the flames to create a cosy atmosphere in their homes. 

They can be accessed through YouTube on a smart TV and come in all sorts of style, with or without sound on.  

According to the charity, YouTube has thousands of hours of fireplace videos which are played daily across homes in the UK, which in turn generate millions of views and considerable ad revenue.

Shelter have said that putting on their Good Fire for as little as one minute will provide funds which will go directly to the charity. 

Meanwhile Shelter urged Brits who might usually watch a virtual fire on YouTube to instead look to ' The Good Fire' , a 10 hour long video of a fireplace

Meanwhile Shelter urged Brits who might usually watch a virtual fire on YouTube to instead look to ‘ The Good Fire’ , a 10 hour long video of a fireplace 

Shelter will be working throughout the Winter to provide help to rough sleepers with free expert support and advice and hope the Good Fire will generate enough funds to support their efforts.    

Andy Harris, director of fundraising at Shelter, said: This will be an especially tough winter for many, for thousands of families it will mean Christmas spent in cold, cramped temporary accommodation, and for some people it will even mean freezing nights spent sleeping on the streets.

‘Shelter’s frontline services will continue to work tirelessly to help as many people faced with the trauma of homelessness as we can, but we need the public’s help. 

‘Just by watching “The Good Fire” from the comfort of your own home this Christmas you can help us fight for a safe home for everyone without one, this winter and beyond,’ he added. 

Zaid Al-Zaidy, CEO at creative agency Above+Beyond, who created the virtual fire, said: ‘Working with the YouTube team at Google has been fantastic. This Good Fire is a great example of technology and creativity coming together to deliver wonderful things.’

The Good Fire was first introduced in 2020, and returns this year in hopes of raising even more fun.

All the advert revenue from the video will be donated straight to Shelter, going towards the charity's efforts to provide housing for rough sleepers

All the advert revenue from the video will be donated straight to Shelter, going towards the charity’s efforts to provide housing for rough sleepers 

It is available at this address and can be found by searching ‘The Good Fire’ on the video sharing platform. 

Figures in August showed that less than a quarter of homeless people that were given help at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic have been given settled accommodation.

Thousands of rough sleepers and those at risk of homelessness were rapidly brought to safety at the start of the Covid outbreak by the Government’s Everyone In scheme.

The Government claimed 37,000 people have been helped from the initiative, but council figures suggest that just 23 per cent of those helped have moved into settled accommodation, somewhere they could stay for at least six months, as of February.

More than one fifth were still living in emergency accommodation such as hostels and B&Bs, according to council responses to a freedom of information request by Shelter.

The Government claimed the analysis is ‘misleading’, adding that 26,000 people have already moved into longer-term accommodation.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk