Urgent call for donations to increase help for needy

A volunteer group feeding Aberdeen’s homeless has made a public appeal for donations as demand for aid has doubled since lockdown.

Street Friends Helping The Homeless is in “immediate need” of support as a result of the surge.

The volunteers take to the streets twice a week to offer food, toiletries, clothing and other help to vulnerable people.

During the pandemic it began supplying people with face coverings and other hygiene products too.

Its main base for dishing out meals is a table set up in St Nicholas Street on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, although teams do also travel through the city centre with a trolley of supplies to reach more people.

Now the group is in need of basic supplies such as tea, coffee, sleeping bags, and large pans and tubs to help dish up meals. Justin Ritchie, a hospital porter who started the effort five years ago, reports a growing number of people, including entire families, now seeking help.

He said: “It’s been a lot busier since Covid-19.

“In the last couple of months there have many people coming for help we haven’t seen before – up to 70 people a night.

“We would help around 35 before the crisis.

“All the donations we are getting just now go out right away, that night, because of the need.

“We have a good group of volunteers from different backgrounds but we are always looking for more people to help make a difference.”

Street Friends Helping The Homeless can be contacted through Facebook, or by calling 07787 435 436.

Street Friends Helping The Homeless