Kind-hearted resident lets homeless man live in his shed
AND HE IS HOPING TO UNITE COMMUNITY TO HELP GET HIM A HOME
A BIG-HEARTED Bedworth man has provided a roof over a homeless man’s head – in his SHED.
So heartbroken to see Brian Richardson sleeping rough on the streets of the town centre in plummeting conditions, Paul Eden decided to offer him a warm place to stay – in the shed in his back garden.
In fact Brian’s sad story has touched the heart of the whole town, bringing together Paul Eden and Garry Cook, who previously did not even know each other, to unite the community to support the 37-year-old who has simply fallen on hard times.
The now pair of friends set-up a page, entitled ‘Brian’s chance,’ in the hope of raising a couple of hundred pounds, so they are stunned that it has now hit the £900 mark.
They are now on a mission to help Brian, who was sleeping rough on the streets of Coventry, a permanent home.
Explaining how the incredible act of kindness came about, Paul Eden said: “I saw something on a community forum on Facebook talking about the amount of people who are homeless in Bedworth town centre, I heard that a couple of them were just blagging it and I had seen Brian in the town centre and I wasn’t sure if he was genuinely homeless,” Paul explained.
“Then I was walking back from a friend’s house at about 2am in the morning and I saw Brian sat there, in the doorway of Thornton’s, huddled up and I realised then that you wouldn’t be sat there in a doorway if you weren’t homeless.”
He then saw more posts about Brian on Facebook and decided to take action.
“I have got a brick built shed and it has electricity, I was just using it for my tools, I know it is not ideal but it is better than a shop doorway so I offered it Brian. He is such a nice man, so shy and timid, he said ‘Are you sure?’ and I said ‘yes, of course.’” In the meantime, Garry set up the fund-raising.
“I have done charity fund-raising before but not on a one-to-one level like this,” he explained.
“We would like to thank people, they have been brilliant, it has really brought the community together and shows what
“The original target was £200 and we reached that in a day or two, so I changed it to £500 and then that was reached, so I moved it to £800 and it is now at £910.
“I also have a couple of hundred quid at home as people have been dropping money off and we have had so many kind people.
“Bedworth has had a lot of bad press lately, gangs of kids on bikes, it has all been really negative and that is one of the reasons why I set up the ‘Brian’s Chance’ page
Paul and Garry then set about trying to help get Brian somewhere to call his own and have been receiving help and support from Coventry Comfort Carers to try and persuade Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council to provide him with a discretionary grant to use as a bond on a flat.
While Brian is grateful for the roof over his head, he is still finding it hard to break the routine of being homeless.
“Sometimes he still goes and sits in town, he never asks anyone for anything, he just sits there doing his puzzle books, he says he does not know what to do with himself,” Paul explained.
It is a far cry from the life he used to lead: “He had a job, he worked at the black cab making company in Coventry an dwas living in a shared house,” he added.
“He had to go to Lincoln for a few days and when he came back to Coventry, the landlord had rented his room out, leaving him homeless.”
This led to Brian losing his job, forcing him onto the streets of the city for several months before going to Bedworth.
“He was kipping in a tent on the old railway embankment. The tent was ripped and because he didn’t have anywhere to put his stuff, he would just put it in a bush but it would always go missing. His story is heartbreaking really.”
The pair are determined to help bring him a happy ending: “It would be the best Christmas present ever for him if we could get him somewhere to live,” Paul concluded.
They are already planning on hosting fundraising events in Brian’s name to help him furnish his new home and get back on his feet, and also plan to help others too.
“We would like to set up like a community shop, where people can donate items for those who are on the streets or who haven’t got much,” Garry added.
“Obviously we will make sure that Brian is okay and then get Christmas out of the way and then focus on trying to set this up.”