Call for more help for homeless during cold weather

A community cafe which has been trying to support homeless people during the cold weather has said more help is needed.

The Living Room in Hereford offers free breakfast, a shower and washing facilities for people, but said it was unable to do more without more volunteers and staff.

The cafe, which opened in 2019, also hands out clothes and tents and another venue has opened in the city, giving support in the evenings.

But Mel Groves, who works at the cafe, said: "We're at capacity we can't really do any more with the amount of volunteers and staff that we've got."

The cafe, which is funded by donations and grants, is used by people such as Ryan who said he used both locations to stay warm, but it was a struggle during the day.

Kevin Morris, who also works at the cafe, said they had given out up to 15 meals a day in recent weeks, which is up by a third on the numbers they give out in warmer months.

The cafe had helped 1,962 people and handed out more than 3,500 meals during the last 12 months, he said.

Some of those were homeless, others were in temporary accommodation and others in fuel poverty.

He said it felt busier now than when they started and that the city needed more capacity to help the homeless.

"We could do more with a bigger building," he said.

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