A team of West Drayton women are on a mission to help those on the streets of London this year, thanks to an 'overwhelming' response from the community.
Two next-door neighbours, Terri Aubrey and Jackie Baldwin, started a 'Help the Homeless' public Facebook group which has gathered over 2,000 members in just a month.
With donations flooding in, the pair who drafted in additional administrators, will hit the streets of London armed with a whopping 80 boxes of gift-wrapped essentials for rough-sleepers.
Kim Cannon, a group administrator, said: “When you see people sitting outside, it's so cold especially in this weather.
“There are people out there who want help, who want to be homed and they've got nothing. They're freezing cold with no food or no way of getting
“We don't seem to help our own local people so I think it's great everyone has chipped in together.”
The five friends, who also include Jane Hickey, Sharon Nuro and Jo Lindley, have put on a Help the Homeless disco at West Drayton 's Ivy Leaf with over 60 raffle prizes.
Their next venture is a sold-out Children's Christmas party with a Santa Clause meet and greet and facepainting on Sunday December, 6.
Funds from both of these events will towards boxes to be given out in Hillingdon and central London on Saturday, December 12, including blankets, sleeping bags, toiletries and dog food.
Terri Aubrey, who works at logistics company Rohlig, is “overwhelmed” by the rapid response the cause has had after her employer donated £200 on goods.
She said: “We were just talking saying we'd like to do something for the homeless so I said: 'why don't we see if we can do something about it?'
“We started up a group on Facebook and we added all the friends we could.
“All of a sudden people were adding everyone else and people were sorting out clothes, sleeping bags and blankets.
“Once I'd posted on our group that my company had helped, a lot of other companies got involved and donated.
" Morrisons donated a trolley full, local shops have been donating too, such as bottles of wine and fruit baskets.
“Me and Jackie couldn't cope with the overwhelming response so we got a few others to help out with admin. We were overwhelmed with the donations and the response.”
The ladies are still accepting donations and are in particular need of blankets and sleeping bags.
To get involved, join the 'Help the Homeless' group on Facebook by clicking here , or drop off donations at Com Cafe, 62 Byron Way, West Drayton, UB7 9JD.
