As Christmas lights shine in the bitter winter cold, a choir of angels spread warmth in the dark. But they do not have halos or wings – instead they’re clad in pink hi-vis jackets and armed with Greggs leftovers to feed the homeless. Wheeling trolleys laden with supplies, the volunteers are from Helping Hands of Birmingham.
It’s a tiny but big-hearted charity helping feed – and lift spirits of – the city’s rough sleepers. The Mirror joined volunteers on an evening outing earlier this month. At one point, volunteers pulled goods for the homeless past the city’s top-end Ivy restaurant – the contrast could hardly be more stark.
By day the charity’s founder Clare Whitaker is a regional manager for a commercial cleaning firm – but by night the 51-year-old helps feed Birmingham’s homeless. The mum-of-two warned: “Remember, when you see someone that’s homeless, that’s someone’s child, that’s someone’s brother, sister… there still a soul, really. That’s what we’re all about. We’re not just about giving food or whatever, we’ll have a chat with them… we’ll help them if they want to be helped.”.
She added: “Instead of sitting at home watching the TV and doing what other people do, we just spend a… night a week going out helping people. Because I’d like to think that if I didn’t have anywhere to turn and I had nowhere to sleep that some nice young person would come up and offer me… clean… underwear, and a clean pair of socks and some hot dinner and a drink.”.
