Angels of the homeless
Volunteers out in force to help those in need
AS THE Government decided all the homeless people need to be housed in the plight of the coronavirus, Shameel Hemani and his team at The Cedars Hotel, Loughborough stepped up and opened their doors to 17 of the homeless.
He also enlisted the help of Natasha Hall and Johtika Makwana who are known for their work with the homeless, after they staged a special Christmas Day meal last December.
Natasha said having a roof over their heads is a start, but most of them had no additional support given to them, such as medical, finance, food, clothes, toiletries and any means of washing their clothes.
With sheer determination and perseverance the two spent many hours on phones putting in place prescriptions, claims to benefits, food parcels, donations for clothes, shoes, toiletries and they even raised £300, so that each of the homeless could wash their clothes.
Both Natasha and Johtika said many of the homeless needed emergency prescriptions but with the self isolation in progress, no face-to-face appointments were available, so the ladies used their own phones to make endless calls and get things in progress.
With Natasha being a qualified chef, evening meals were given each evening as the homeless were only entitled to a bed and a continental breakfast.
And the community of Loughborough came to help and support these two selfless ladies by donating many items.
Natasha and Johtika said it had been a pleasure helping the homeless settle into the hotel.
They told the Echo they would like to thank Jill’s washing services, Morrisons, Ocean Kings, John Storer House, The Falcon Centre, The King Street Mosque, the Job Centre and Linda Martindale for driving them around: “And especially Shameel Hemani
and his fabulous team at the Cedars Hotel for starting this journey of saving the homeless and keeping them safe.”
The pair also shared their donations with Kerry Gee, manager at the Charnwood Regency Lodge as she too had a number of homeless staying with her at present.
The Matthew Care Unit also made an appeal for clothes so they were able to take a few bags for them and also delivered care packages to people isolated in and around Loughborough.