Eastbourne bar staff come to rescue of homeless

Warming up the Homeless, a charity in Eastbourne and Hastings, planned to give out 75 pre-cooked Christmas dinners to homeless and vulnerable people on the streets but were disappointed when the person cooking had to pull out.

Miguel Figueira, the chef at the Loft in Station Street, and bosses Scott Halliday and Darren Myall stepped in and offered to cook the meals in the kitchen of The Loft so they can be delivered to members of the street community on Tuesday evening and Christmas Day.

Miguel said, “We are more than happy to help. The charity is a wonderful one and it’s good at this time of year to help people less fortunate than ourselves.”

The Christmas dinner project is one of a number of initiatives that Loft owner Scott Halliday has been working on with the charity.

He is calling on his business contacts to supply much needed essentials for the homeless community and raise money for the organisation.

The aim of Warming up the Homeless aim is to go out to the homeless in the early evening, as they’re bedding down, to make sure they have enough hot food, drinks, clothes and other essential supplies to get them through the night and following morning.

As well as food and drink, volunteers offer company and advice, and point them towards other agencies who can help them with housing and other needs.

Trudy Hampton from the charity said, “We have more than 134 volunteers, all of whom are DBS checked and trained in safeguarding to a high standard. We feed 75 a night in Eastbourne who are a mix of street homelessness and homeless.”

For more information visit www.warmingupthehomeless.org.uk