Two young people have used their ingenuity to ensure two homeless men won’t have to be out on the streets this December.
Dominique Harrison-Bentzen, 22, spent the night sleeping rough in Preston to raise money for a homeless man who gave her £3 for a taxi after she lost her bank card. She hoped to raise £500 but donations have now reached more than £20,000.
Further south, Fred Pye, 17, who makes good living from YouTube videos, decided to give £400 worth of clothing, travel vouchers and toiletries to a homeless man he met in Birmingham. Fred also says he will donate $1 every time the video of him making the donation is shared.
“I’d been planning to do something for a few weeks,” said Fred, who estimates he makes about $5,000 (£3,200) from videos he posts on YouTube of him playing Grand Theft Auto. “I did something similar last year in Shrewsbury but decided to do something a bit grander this year in Birmingham.”
Harrison-Bentzen, who studies at the University of Central Lancashire, said that after she lost her bank card: “I suddenly realised that I had no money and a homeless man approached me with his only change of £3. He insisted I took it to pay for a taxi to make sure I got home safe.”
The man, known as Robbie, has been homeless for about seven months, said Harrison-Bentzen. Touched by his gesture, she decided to raise some money for him in return. The story went viral after she was retweeted by a number of high profile supporters, including Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown.
RT @CurlyClaire13 Please donate £3 to help Robbie #Prestonshomelesshero get a deposit for a flat http://t.co/WblgiEjrUL
— Official Ian Brown (@ianbrowncouk) December 10, 2014
When the fundraiser ended, Harrison-Bentzen posted on Facebook: “This is not only going to change Robbie’s life, but [the lives of] an incredible amount of homeless people in Preston. Yes, we were cold and yes, we were hungry, but people endure that 365 days of the year, so for 24 hours we didn’t complain.”
She said the money will be used to help find a permanent home for Robbie and others in the city.
Fred said he hoped his actions would encourage other people to do something similar. Although he said he has yet to see Gabriel, the man to whom he donated the £400, again, he hoped he would get in contact.
Paul Noblet of the homelessness charity Centrepoint said: “Committing to support those facing homelessness is a fantastic gesture by Fred. We estimate that 15,000 young people of a similar age to him will find themselves facing homelessness this Christmas alone. It’s a terrifying thought that these young people are twice as likely to die as their peers.
“Donating money is always matter of personal choice. The public can help those experiencing homelessness by calling the Street Link line (0300 500 0914) which will connect them with charities, like Centrepoint.”