Once again this year, the Sozialdienst Katholischer Männer e. V. (SKM) is offering 24-hour availability via the Winterhilfe telephone and the Winterhilfe postbox.
This is used to receive information about homeless people who are outside in winter temperatures. The reported locations or people are visited as part of the following cold walks and promptly by the city-wide street work team, and the people are informed about all the services offered by Winterhilfe.
Telephone and post box available around the clock
You can reach the Winter aid telephone 24 hours a day at 0221-56097310.
You can also send an e-mail to winterhilfetelefon@skm-koeln.de.
If people are in acute danger, citizens are asked to contact the emergency services immediately on 112.
Refrigerated bus
After the food and drink distribution on Mondays and Wednesdays (also clothing on Wednesdays) at Breslauer Platz, the cold bus travels around the city, travelling to known locations and those of homeless people reported via the cold bus telephone. The cold bus is organised by the association „Freunde der Kölner Straßen und ihrer Bewohner e. V.“:
Cold bus telephone: 0162-4608745
You can daily from 6 pm to 11 pm Contact us.
Incidentally, the cold bus is not a means of transport for people, but a van for transporting aid (food, drink, clothing).
Thank you
Thank you very much for researching information to help people affected by street homelessness.
Sources: Press release of the City of Cologne dated 17/10/2025 (https://www.stadt-koeln.de/politik-und-verwaltung/presseservice/winterhilfe-20252026-der-stadt-koeln); article „Winter aid for housing emergencies“ on the website of the City of Cologne (https://www.stadt-koeln.de/artikel/07773/index.html); contribution of the Cologne cold bus here on this website (https://www.wohnungslos-in-koeln.de/einrichtung/koelner-kaeltebus/).