Homeless help group inspired by encounter

A group of friends have launched an initiative aimed at helping homeless people throughout the year. They have launched a monthly drop off to homeless shelters to supply them with the items people need all year round. The group were inspired to act after seeing the amount of effort put into such projects at Christmas time. Josh Adley, a member of Alyth Synagogue, in North-West London, helped set up the group after he and his wife Rebecca met a homeless man outside a cinema last month. Mr Adley explained: “The man asked if we knew of a shelter that would be open, but we didn’t. “Upon asking around and looking online it seemed nothing was open until the morning unless you had a referral. “We bought the man a meal and chatted for a while. But later that night I wanted to help more so I filled my car with warm clothing and drove back to try to find him, but I couldn’t see him.” Mr Adley, 28, said he could not stop thinking about what might have happened to the man. “I decided to set up a day where we would gather as much warm clothing and toiletries as possible to take to homeless shelters and rough sleepers between Christmas and New Year,” he said. “Originally it was only going to be a one-off day of dropping off. “However having spoken to the shelters they said they get quite a lot given to them over Christmas and it was January to March when they were most in need.” Mr Adley has set up a wish list on Amazon where people can buy items that shelters have said they need the most and they will be distributed to them throughout the year. “While it’s clearly a very short-term solution, if we can help stock the shelters which do amazing work, and make a few nights’ sleep a bit warmer for people then it is worth it,” he said. Mr Adley and his friends will be going to visit the Homeless Action drop-offcentre in Barnet at the end of January.