More than 2,000 primary school children are homeless in Kent this Christmas and will be hoping Santa will be able to find them in the "freezing cold bedsit or grotty B&B" they are temporarily housed in.
Homeless charity Shelter is sounding the alarm after its research found the equivalent of one child in every three primary school classes will spend the holiday season without a home.
The figures - obtained by Shelter through a Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - show that primary school children are the worst affected age group in England.
Some 2,493 school children in Kent and Medway are now set to spend Christmas homeless in what Shelter describes as "often grim and unstable temporary accommodation". That has increased from 2,147 in 2023 and 1,610 in 2022.
It means this year the equivalent of one in 76 primary school children in Medway and one in 132 in the rest of Kent will be homeless at Christmas.
You can see how many children will be spending Christmas without a home where you live using our interactive map.
Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said: "It's heartbreaking that one in three primary school classrooms include a child who will spend this Christmas homeless. While their classmates are excited for the holidays ahead, many children face winter in a freezing cold bedsit or grotty B&B room, unwrapping their presents as their breath hangs in the air.
"Families across the country tell us the housing emergency is damaging their children's education. Thousands are growing up without the space or basic facilities to sleep, play or do their homework. They travel for hours only to arrive at school exhausted, where they struggle to concentrate and fall behind in their work.
"To give children a chance to succeed, the government must end the nightmare of child homelessness by building a new generation of decent social rent homes. Until then, Shelter needs the public's support more than ever to continue doing all we can to fight for families on the frontline of the housing emergency."
Councils have a legal responsibility to accommodate most families who are homeless. However, Shelter says rocketing rents and a severe shortage of social rent homes force local authorities to rely on temporary accommodation for long periods.
Shelter's frontline services regularly hear from families who are expected to move miles away from friends and communities to move into temporary accommodation, which is often not suitable.
These types of moves can make it difficult for parents to get their children to school, and many youngsters arrive tired after sleepless nights in their cramped and often unsafe accommodation.
More than half of parents (52%) say their children have missed days of school as a result of living in temporary accommodation. Mum Fauzia, her husband and three children were made homeless by a "no fault" (Section 21) eviction seven years ago - and are still without a home.
They were placed in a hotel in Enfield before being moved into temporary accommodation in Ealing and the children now face long journeys every day to get to school in Waltham Cross on the other side of London.
Fauzia says her family's physical and mental health has been badly affected by conditions in the temporary accommodation they will spend Christmas. The toilet is frequently blocked, with raw sewage backflowing into the bathroom sink. The windows don't open, causing damp and mould to spread across the flat.
Fauzia said: "There are so many problems - the house is freezing cold and poor plumbing leads the toilet to flood every day. It took weeks for the agency to fix it, only for it to break down again. I tried to contact the council, but they ignored me - I just don't know what to do.
"The journey to get my children to school is killing me. My back hurts and we're constantly late because our accommodation is so far away. It ends up being such a long day for them; they fall asleep in the car because they're so exhausted. When we finally get home, there's barely enough time for them to eat dinner and have a bath. My children are missing out on their childhoods.
"We have been moving since our children were very young. We have been in temporary accommodation for seven years now and every day we pack our things in case we're told to move again at short notice. It has taken an enormous toll."
Shelter's frontline services are supporting thousands of people facing homelessness this winter, from providing expert advice to families stuck in unsafe and unsuitable temporary accommodation, to giving emergency help to people at risk of having to sleep rough.
The charity is now asking the public to donate to its Urgent Appeal to help it be there for the thousands of people experiencing homelessness this winter. Donate now at shelter.org.uk/winterappeal