A north-east woman spent December making sure some of the region’s most vulnerable people would be warm over Christmas.
Jade Clapham packed suitcases of supplies before the holidays and travelled to Aberdeen with her dad Mark to hand out care packages to the homeless ahead of Storm Barbara.
The 21-year-old’s act of kindness has now inspired neighbours in her hometown of Banff to also donate what they can to local homelessness shelters.
Last night, Miss Clapham said she was inspired to do what she could because of her own parents’ history of helping people with nowhere to turn to.
The Claphams had run a hotel in Banff several years ago that would host Aberdeenshire’s homeless.
She said her parents went “above the call” when it came to helping the people that came through their doors.
“I’ve always been brought up that being homeless could happen to anyone, really,” Miss Clapham said.
“Families could chuck these people out, or they may have split up with their partners, so I just really wanted to go help a little bit.”
She handed out three sleeping bags, seven blankets, jumpers, tops, hats and several pairs of gloves during her night in Aberdeen.
“Quite a few people stopped to ask what we were doing,” Miss Clapham added.
“They gave people drinks and money while we were there. It seemed to get other peoples’ attention, and got more people helping.
“We saw around 10 people in total. Every single one of them was so grateful for everything they got.”
Earlier this month, Aberdeen medical student James Beavis announced his intention to sleep rough in London for 31 days to raise further awareness for homelessness.
Mr Beavis is existing off what little money people drop into his hat and is enduring cold nights in a sleeping bag until January 9.
He is aiming to raise £25,000 for the charity Crisis.
Figures released by the Trussell Trust earlier this year revealed that record numbers of families are turning to food banks in the region.
In Aberdeenshire there was an increase of around 19% over a 12-month period. In Aberdeen the number jumped by more than 38%.
