General Chat

Dig out your unwanted clothes, bedding etc and take it to the nearest shelter, not everybody on the street is there by choice.

A story I will tell you from when I lived there.

A lass I knew lets call her Q came to live in the squat where I was when she was 17 . she came with Z her sister who was 14 but aged 7/9 mentally and a baby. Z The reason why Q did a runner from home, her nephew was also her half brother.,This poor lass at the age of 17 was trying to shield herself, her sister and the child, from her father. as well as take care of them. She didn´t dare go le-git in case father found them, hence the squat. She at 17 was also a tad underage.
A group of us protected her, baby sat both children, whilst she went to work, and we all cheered when she turned 18 and could fight back.

But in the year she had protecting her sister and half brother she relied on the goodwill of others. Now those on the street can only do so much.
So your help is needed also.
I will not say give money .that is wrong, give nappies,tinned food, clothes, Toys and give wrapped gifts (but say male or female and age on them) at Xmas because even the street kids would like a present.

Soap box over and over to you all.

A friend of mine is collecting discarded winter coats for her local church to pass on to needy folk. I want to get one to her before I go away as I haven't worn it for ages and don't need it.

Sadly, there will be more and more people on the streets with the way things are going here and elsewhere in the world.

Lizx

a dear friend of mine recently lost her husband - very well off the pair of them and he had a shedload of clothes, over 200 pairs of shoes and none of them cheap by any means - she decided they were too good for a charity shop and they wouldn't reach the shelves, so wisely she took them to our local shelter for the homeless - The Huggard Centre here in Cardiff. It's a new build in the centre of town. Their gratitude was overwhelming and she knew instantly that it would all be well used. She had just bought a few hundred cigars for Ken and they alone were worth a few hundred pounds - the centre will keep those for Christmas as they do a parcel for each resident.

Such a good idea of hers and that's where all my stuff will be going in future. I usually take it to the local cancer shop but it's just a case of "Oh, put it there" and I have yet to see anything I've ever taken put in the shop to sell

I also find that generally, the charity shops are fairly dismissive and you're lucky if they can manage to give you some help to carry the bags into the shop

The Huggard Centre will in future be getting all my unwanted clothes

Has anyone else been following the story of homeless man Glen James from Boston?

He lost his job in 2005 and has been living in a homeless shelter ever since.
Earlier this month, he found a backpack containing $40,000 in cash and travellers cheques
He immediately handed it to the police.

Having heard the story, someone started a fund for James, hoping to raise $50.000.
Within 2 days, almost $100,000 was donated.
The goal is now to reach $250.000

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/homeless-man-100k-donations-
returning-cash-stuffed-backpack-article-1.1460864