Three De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) graduates are teaming up to cook and deliver 1,000 meals to feed the homeless this Christmas.
Jack Meldrum and Tallulah Horton have so far raised £2,384 through a GoFundMe crowdfunding page to support the caring campaign, launched after going to see the Leicester Christmas lights switch-on.
Helping hands: From left, George, Tallulah and Jack (picture courtesy of Leicester Mercury)
“We were looking at the lights, and seeing everyone buying presents and we saw people sleeping rough, and having nowhere to sleep. We wanted to do something to help them be part of the festivities,” explained Jack.
At first, the pair aimed to help 100 homeless people enjoy Christmas dinner, but the idea soon expanded – to 1,000.
Their friend George Stewart, another DMU graduate who is head chef at Kirby Muxloe Golf Club, has been cooking the Christmas dinners with his team after bosses let them use their professional kitchen.
They started delivering the meals yesterday, with 200 distributed with homeless charities in Nottingham and Leicester. Today (Tuesday December 17) they will be delivering more and on Wednesday, they will be at Leicester Market working with Help the Homeless to ensure homeless people in need get a hot meal.
Help the Homeless founder Arif Voraji has been helping Jack and Tallulah plan the project as well as offering advice and support.
Jack, a bartender at the Brick and Beam in Leicester, said homeless charities contacted had been delighted to hear of their project. He added: “A woman at one charity broke down and cried when we contacted her. She had no food left to give people, so we kind of saved the day.”
Their GoFundMe page has already passed its £2,000 target, which was to pay for the ingredients, but the group plan to keep on working to help the homeless.
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After the 1,000 meals are cooked and delivered, they’ll spend any spare money on dog food and sleeping bags and distribute those to charities.
They plan to keep the project running after this Christmas, added Jack. He said: “We are hoping to do more to help, we want to get involved more and help people get back on their feet.”
After receiving an overwhelming response from people on social media, Jack wants to spread his message of pulling people together to do something special further.
• Would you like to support the project? Donate to the crowdfunding page here
Posted on Tuesday 17 December 2019