Cold Aid 2024/25 | Emergency numbers, donation & volunteering opportunities
With the beginning of the cold season, the Kältehilfe (Cold Aid) starts again this year all over Germany. This means that emergency shelters for homeless people will open again and Kältehilfe buses will be on the streets in many cities.
The associations and organisations behind the shelters, the Kältehilfe buses and the care of homeless people depend on the support of committed people like you for their work. Therefore, in this article we show you how you can help with time, money and attention to bring homeless people safely through the cold season.
Content
- What Cold Aid is all about
- How you can help: Cold aid hotlines & donation opportunities in your city
- Get involved on site in cold & homeless aid
What Cold Aid is all about
Between the beginning of November and the end of March, organisations throughout Germany offer cold aid (Kältehilfe) for homeless people. In addition to emergency shelters, this also includes so-called warmth or cold buses (Wärmebuse or Kältebusse). They travel the streets to regularly provide people with food, warm drinks, sleeping bags, and more. Many cold aid initiatives have set up regular tours or meeting points for this purpose, giving people a fixed point of contact where they can not only warm up, but also talk about their everyday worries and problems. The cold aid is organised differently in each region. Here we show you how you can support them in your area.
How you can help: Cold aid hotlines & donation opportunities in your city
Use Cold Aid hotlines
If you are outside in the city during the coming weeks, keep your eyes open for people who are suffering from the cold and may need help. Even if it takes some effort at first, talk to them in a friendly way and ask if they need anything. If the person concerned wants to accept help, you can directly contact Kältehilfe buses in some cities. They will note the location and arrange for initial supply. In serious cases, you should of course call 112 directly, for example if a person is obviously injured or unresponsive.
Donate for the Cold Aid
In order for the Kältehilfe buses to regularly provide homeless people on their tours with warm drinks, food and e.g. clothes, they depend on donations. You can see exactly which donations in kind or money are needed on the websites of the respective organisation.
Cold Aid services in your city
| City | Organisation | Availability & Donation Info |
|---|---|---|
| Berlin | Berliner Kältehilfe (Kältehilfe app in the Google Play Store or iOS App Store shows free sleeping places, night cafés & food offers) | Cold aid hotline: 0157 80597870 (Mon-Fri 9:00-17:00) Phone: 030 343 971 40 (daily 19:00 – 23:00) Donate for Berliner Kältehilfe |
| Kältebus from Berlin | Phone: 0178 523 5838 (daily 20:30 – 02:00) | |
| Wärmebus from DRK | Phone: 030 600 300 1010 (daily 18:00 – 24:00) Donate for Wärmebus of DRK | |
| Kältebus from Berliner Stadtmission | Phone: 030 690 333 690 (daily 20:00 – 2:00) Donate for Kältebus, Ambulance & Emegency Shelter of Berliner Stadtmission | |
| Bergisch-Gladbach / Refrath / Bensberg | Kältebus from “Die Platte e.V.” | Phone: 02202 272 6689(Tours Mon, Wed, Fri from 19:00) Donate for Die Platte e.V. |
| Brandenburg an der Havel | Kältebus from DRK Brandenburg | Phone: 03381 630 621 (daily) |
| Braunschweig | Malteser Wärmebus | Phone: 0531 237 9790 |
| Detmold Lage/Lippe | Malteser Wärmebus | Phone: 0173 367 7369 |
| Dortmund | Wärmebus Malteser | Phone: 0160 94791866 |
| Düsseldorf | Gutenachtbus from vision:teilen & fiftyfifty | Phone: 01578 350 5152 (daily Tour 22:00 – 0:30) Donate for Gutenachtbus |
| Essen | DRK Essen | Phone: 0201 22 22 22 (24h Hotline) Donate for DRK Essen |
| Frankfurt am Main | Kältebus from Frankfurt | Phone: 069 431 414 (daily 21:30 – 05:00) |
| Frankfurt Oder | DRK Kältebus | Phone: 0335 192 22 (at sub-zero temps, daily 18-22 h) |
| Freiburg | DRK Kältebus | Phone: 0761 885 089 88 (daily 20:00-24:00) |
| Halle | Bus Vierjahreszeiten | Phone: 0176 705 544 07 (3x per week) |
| Hamburg | Kältebus from CaFée mit Herz | Phone: 0151 656 833 68 (daily 19:00 – 24:00) Donate for Kältebus CaFée mit Herz |
| Mitternachtsbus from Diakonie | Phone: 040 401 782 15 (Tours every night) Donate for Mitternachtsbus | |
| Hannover | Kältebus from Johanniter | Phone: 0800 084 8488 (Mon, wed, Fri 15:30-21:00) Donate for Kältebus of Johanniter |
| Wärmebus from Malteser | Phone Infos: 0511 959 8636 (Tours every Thur & weekend) Donate for Malteser Wärmebus | |
| Heidelberg | Malteser Wärmebus | Phone: 06221 160 864 |
| Karlsruhe | Kältebus from DRK | Phone: 07251 922 999 Donate for DRK Kältebus |
| Kiel | Kältebus from Malteser | Phone: 0170 140 9210 (Tours every Friday 18:00-22:00) Donate for Malteser Kältebus |
| Köln | Kältebus from FDKS | Phone: 0176 240 713 12 (daily 18:00 – 23:00) Donate for Kältebus of FDKS |
| Leipzig | Hilfebus from Leipzig | Phone: 01523 366 1087 (daily 18:00 – 23:00) |
| Mainz | Kältebus from Rheinhessen Hilft e.V. | Phone: 0163 686 7137 |
| Mannheim | Kältebus from Mannheim | Phone: 0621 293 3425 (daily from 21:00) |
| München | Kältebus München e.V. | Phone Infos: 089 200 045 930 / Mail: info@kaeltebus-muenchen.de Donate for Kältebus München |
| Münster | Malteser Wärmebus | Phone Infos: 0151 122 648 36 (Tours every weekend) |
| Solingen | Malteser Wärmebus | Phone: 0212 / 20 63 90 |
| Stuttgart | Malteser Wärmebus | Phone: 0711 219 547 76 (Tours 22-02) Donate for Malteser Wärmebus |
| Wiesbaden | Kältebus from Rheinhessen Hilft e.V. | Phone: 0163 686 7137 |
If your city is not listed, you can find more (mobile) Kältehilfe initiatives with a simple search engine query for “Kältehilfe (or Kältebus) + city” (e.g. via ecosia.de).
Get involved on site in cold & homeless aid
Get involved in projects to support homeless people
Many emergency shelters for homeless people are looking for additional support from volunteers for the cold season, who help out with serving meals and looking after residents, among other things. If you would like to become active directly on site, you can find a small selection of projects to support homeless people here.
You can also find more projects to support homeless people at vostel.de.
Use Gifting Fences (Gabenzäune)
Beyond the initiatives presented, you still have the opportunity, to equip gifting fences with food, blankets or clothes, from which needy people can help themselves individually. You should make sure that the food is (still) good and that the clothes are suitable for the cold season. On the site Gabenzaun.de you will find an overview of the locations of gift fences throughout Germany.
Donate via betterplace.org
In addition to the Kältehilfe buses, there are a large number of projects throughout Germany that care for homeless people and that you can support with a donation. These include projects to provide clothing and meals, streetwork stations for street kids or a centre for homeless women. You can find a good overview of the different projects and funding needs on the donation platform Betterplace.org.
Donate clothing via local institutions
In many German cities there are a number of institutions/shops with fixed locations where you can make donations in kind for homeless people. You can find local organisations in your area by simply searching for “Homeless clothing donations + your city”.
Please note that the needs of each organisation are different. In any case, it is worth taking a quick look at the website or calling them to find out what things are actually needed.
Thank you for your commitment in the cold aid!
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