Recent Work
Check out what we have been up to recently…
Sunday 28th September 2025
Tonight, the night feels heavy with the weight of those who have no place to call home. The restless murmurs of our homeless community echo through the streets, their anxiety palpable as they fear the possibility of going hungry. We assure them, with a heavy heart, that they will not be left without food, offering them a variety of meals that bring fleeting moments of joy, like the simple pleasure of crumble and custard.
Our numbers have swelled to 200 in the food queues, and the relentless ringing of our phone is a constant reminder of the desperate need for food support. We urge those with homes to seek help from local food banks and community hubs, as we strive to support these places with donations.
Even our dedicated volunteers, who distribute clothes, sleeping bags, and other necessities, face challenges tonight. The sight of people with unsuitable footwear and no coats is a stark reminder of the harsh realities they endure.
We encountered a new face, a lady struggling to walk and wait in the long queue. She sat on the steps, and as we approached, we learned she had traveled to Leeds two weeks ago from the south of the country, seeking help after leaving her flat due to trouble. With winter approaching, her struggle is heart-wrenching, and all we can do is refer her to the local authority, hoping they will offer assistance or send her home.
Another individual, new to us, became homeless due to a relationship breakdown two weeks ago. He stood crying, overwhelmed by the difficulty of sleeping rough and having not eaten for two days. His despair was evident when he stated that the best option might be if he were dead. This statement is always alarming. We fed him and called emergency services to seek support.
One of our regular street homeless individuals came to us with open and infected sores on his hands. The team cleaned his hands, applied new dressings, and urged him to seek emergency medical attention immediately.
We collected surplus food from Marks & Spencer, allowing those with homes to take it back and cook it, providing some relief for a few days. We continue to supply food to homeless hostels in Leeds and Bradford, ensuring those accommodated there are fed, and we support our regular food bank.
Despite our efforts to take one day a week off, we were called out to a homeless man begging outside a supermarket. We spent time talking to him, learning about his two-year struggle with street homelessness after his house burned down and his mother passed away the same year. He suffers from mental health issues, and we made a referral to services for immediate assistance on Monday morning. We offered him a bed and breakfast, which he declined, choosing to remain in his tent until he speaks to someone on Monday, as he has collected a lot of belongings over the years. Before leaving, we asked if there was anything we could get him, and he simply asked for something sweet. We fulfilled his request and will follow up to ensure he receives the support he needs.
These past few weeks have been incredibly busy, and we have supported six people with furniture and appliances for their new homes. Yet, the sadness lingers, a reminder of the ongoing struggle faced by so many.
Thank you to Catherine for the beef chilli.
Thank you to Karen for the apple crumble and rice.
Thank you to Nigel for cooking up a hearty sausage casserole, enjoyed by all.
Thank you to Punjabi Heaven hot meals your support is always appreciated.
Thank you to Singh restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.
Thank you to Linz, Sharon, Linz Jo, Saul and Elodie for their delicious home baking.
Thank you to Dina, Dharmesh and the Bradford Hindu Council for donating meals and Snack packs.
Thank you to Dawn for the bags of cookies apples, lots of fruit going into our baking at the moment.
Thank you to Bal for donating soft, drinks, sweet and savoury snacks.
Again thank you to the Otley stars for baking a delicious selection of cakes.
Thank you to Nandos for the weekly donation of chicken.
Thank you to Katie for supplying us with meat and poultry.
Thank you to Greggs for all their support.
A special mention to all the supermarkets M&S, Sainsburys & Morrisons for their amazing food donations.
OUR APPEAL
* Suitable clothing as per our poster only
* Sleeping bags
* Ruck sacks
* Soft drinks
* Sweet and savoury snacks
* Non perishable food
* Tinned food
* Cereal
* Pasta
* Rice
* Sugar
Thank you to Team Hampers that make every week possible and all your hard work 7 days a week. 
Sunday 7th September 2025
A busy week concluded with a busy night, filled with both sadness and compassion. We started with the hope of a quiet evening, as only a dozen people were queuing when we arrived. However, we ended up supporting 176 individuals, many of whom expressed deep gratitude for our presence every Sunday evening. It was touching to see them come over individually to thank us, even though we never expect such gestures.
Tonight was a bit difficult again to see so many people with really sore feet. One individual had walked miles in shoes too small for him. When he arrived, you could see and feel his pain. We provided him with shoes that fit and fresh socks. When he removed his socks, the soles of his feet had rubbed red raw, really making us flinch. We provided him with clean dressings, and the relief on his face said everything.
Our team that walks around the city with the food trolley returned to collect a pair of shoes as they came across a street homeless man crying because his shoes had been stolen, and he had been wearing carrier bags on his feet for a few days. We sent him a brand new pair of good walking boots and socks. At that moment, another individual approached wanting a pair of trainers. We always check people’s shoes before handing out another pair. His trainers looked completely fine, but he complained that as they are his only pair, they smell bad. We explained to him that due to the shortage of suitable donations we are facing at the moment, we are having to make difficult decisions, and we had a man crying as he has no choice but to wear carrier bags on his feet. Fortunately, he was understanding and said, “I get you, and you totally made the right decision.” We provided him with clean socks.
Some of these individuals hold a special place in our hearts, and we eagerly anticipate the day they find housing.
This week, we supported five people with donations of furniture and white goods to help them set up their new homes, which included a lady expecting her first baby and a man that is chronically ill. We were just grateful to make him comfortable in his new home with what time he has left. This is an emotional part of our charitable work. Witnessing their excitement as we filled their new spaces was a humbling experience.
We continued our partnership with St Anne’s by providing breakfast items for their breakfast club, which supports our homeless community. Our support for food banks also continued, directing some of the individuals we see on Sunday nights to these services.
Thank you to our volunteers that support with food deliveries into the hostels and the food banks we support.
This week was made possible by the generosity of many:
* Catherine for the beef chilli
* Steve for the spicy bean casserole
* Karen for the custard
* Jo & Saul for the apple crumble
* Dharmandar from Sainsburys for donating mince pies
* Punjabi Heaven for donating vegetable curry and rice and chicken rolls
* Singh restaurant for donating 35 meals to homeless hostels and B&Bs
* Josh at Wharfdale embroidery for donating warm clothes and thermal socks
* ZeeZee from The Biskery for actually baking Homeless Hampers biscuits; it was really heartwarming when we saw these.
We want to say we are really humbled by all the support we are given to make each week possible and the clothing donations. Our aim is always to try and provide clean, suitable clothing for our street homeless community. This week, we will add again of clothing we require as we head towards the winter months.
Team Hampers, you are all amazing.
Sunday 31st August 2025
Every week, we hear from someone either really struggling or ending up homeless. Today, we took a call from an individual who became homeless two weeks ago and had been sleeping in his car with his dog. He’s cold on a night and hungry, and we asked him to visit us in the city centre to see what support we could put in place. He repeatedly thanked us for providing him with a hot meal, which caused us some concern at the pace he ate it. We offered to make a referral for an emergency bed tonight, but he insisted he couldn’t be without his dog. So, we signposted him to where he can present first thing in the morning to be supported. For tonight, we layered him up and provided warm food. This isn’t an isolated case of people sleeping in vehicles; several years ago, we had an elderly man who had suffered a marriage breakdown and slept in his van for several years.
Towards the end of the night we spoke to a gentleman who’s been attending with his elderly mother for several weeks and we originally assumed they are housed but struggling to make ends meet, but after speaking to them we learnt they are living in hotel rooms, we found this heart breaking and worrying as winter is around the corner and the thought of an eighty year old woman waiting in our food queue for hot meal upsets us. For one reason or another or perhaps just their pride they weren’t forthcoming with the reason they are in this situation nor need the want to take up the offer of extra support, we let them know we are here for them and not to join the queue we will give them priority so they are not waiting in the long queue and the offer of further support is always there.
We ensured at the end of the night all our volunteers left and got to their car safely as we climbed into the van to set off ourselves we witnessed an individual eating from the bin, we went over to him and asked him to not eat out of the bin took him to a shop locally and let him choose what he wanted.
Tonight we saw the darker night drawing in and a little chill. Once again winter is just around the corner, we are desperately appealing for practical men’s clothes for our street homeless community. The this year we are also asking for your old unwanted sleeping bags, we attended the Leeds fest to salvage some sleeping bags as the last salvage from the festival saw us out through two years. This year we only had access to one field and only managed to collect 33 sleeping bags, which will not last long. We only require men’s clothes and only in smaller sizes and only what is listed on our poster.
Our home support continues, with two more recently housed individuals supported in their new home with furniture and white appliances. This is the result that makes everything we do worth our time and effort.
Our support into the food banks for St Anne’s and the Homeless Hostels continues in Leeds and Bradford.
We may be biased, but we have amazing support and an absolutely amazing team, and each one of them plays a valuable part in making all we do possible.
Our humble thank you’s go to:
* Catherine
* Steve’s 14 year old granddaughter for baking
* The Bachu family
* The Bharma family
* Jo, Saul and Elodie
* Sharon
* Punjabi Heaven
* Singhs
* Greggs
* Waitrose
* M&S
* Sainsburys
Special thank you to Margaret and her friend for donating £50 as they wanted to share some of their premium bond winnings.
We are really grateful to everyone that continues to make monetary donations. The nights are really cold, and this is the time of year we fund hotel beds just to give our friends sleeping rough a couple of nights of respite from sleeping out in the cold. So thank you for helping us make this possible.
We again include our poster for clothing items required. Please support us if you can.
Homelessness isn’t just the absence of a home. It’s the loss of safety, dignity, and hope. Every little we do hopefully gives some faith.
Sunday 27th July 2025
Just a short post this week firstly to thank everyone that supports us week in week out.
On reflection about our night tonight, we happened to be in the right place, with the right people that saved a life of a homeless woman.
We heard people shouting for our help and we ran toward the commotion to find the lady violently fitting to the point she bit her tongue.
One our volunteers is a medic she placed the lady in the recovery position and continued talking to her and comforting her as the fit continued. When the ambulance crew arrived they took over, we hope she makes a good recovery.
We were also able to find out other valuable information that we can’t divulge for safeguarding, but we now know she will get the help she needs and no longer be homeless. What we can say is we get questioned on by some as to why we support the homeless as their lives are all about addictions. This lady was a prime example reason as to why we help the homeless, her trauma bought her out on the streets. After all these years we have heard some horrific and sad reasons why people end up homeless.
A big thank you to Jess, as we were pretty shook up.
Can we also thank the Manning Stainton team for joining us to as volunteers.
Team Hampers
Sunday 20th July 2025
Really light on volunteers tonight and sadly we took the decision to not hand out clothes and essential items from the van so we could just man the food tables the queue and the walk around trolleys, we did make one exception for an individual that was wet through, although there a-lot people in the same position what concerned us about this individual was the amount pain he was in, not only was his jogging bottoms wet but they were blood stained he then showed us the open angry looking wounds on his legs that were bleeding and looked infected, we gave him some dressing for his legs clean jogging bottoms and socks, we asked him to seek urgent medical attention and signed posted him to where he could get this from tonight, just felt the pain on his face spoke a thousand words. He was hungry so we didn’t ask him to queue we sat him down on some steps and bought his food to him, once he had eaten he left we hope he got the help he needed. We are seeing a lot of people with ulcerative legs.
The rain was much needed for so many reasons but always difficult for our homeless community, nothing to shelter them and people arrived in wet clothes. Some people stood waiting for us 2 hours before we arrived so they could be fed, tonight we supported 182 people, the team on foot with our trolleys filled with food came across 50 people, sitting in doorways sheltering from the down pour.
We are always grateful to volunteers for supporting us in all conditions and braving the heavy rain at times.
We have been supporting some individuals for some years, many of them call us by our names, many of them are always happy to see us, with some it’s just a nod and a hello with some it’s a hug, but of late we are seeing new faces and with them there seems to be a bit of aggression, we unsure what’s causing this behaviour, part of it is their mental health part of it is their resentment of their circumstances. We know we started out as Homeless Hampers for our street homeless, but overtime things have moved on to people struggling to make ends meet and maybe accessing our support may keep the roof over their heads. We just judge no one.
During the week we will be saying goodbye to a really special young man previously homeless, sadly passed away touched so many of our lives and leaves a lasting impression on our hearts. We supported him once he was housed and in return he came back a volunteered with us. Truly a kind hearted soul that always met you with a hug.
During the week we continue to supply food into the homeless shelters, we continue to supply food to the food banks. We have ensured the homeless breakfast club is well stocked.
We would like to thank, Catherine, Steve, Harjit, Singh’s and Punjabi Heaven for cooking hot meals for tonight.
We would like to thank Jo, Saul, Elodie and Linz for baking a selection of cakes.
We would likely to thank: Greggs, The Otley Community Larder and the congregation from the LDS churches for the sandwiches.
We would like to thank Emma for sorting collection of an extra donation of sandwiches from Ilkley M&S and delivering into the city centre, which not only helped us feed people on the streets we were able to make extra donations into the Homeless Hostels.
We would like to thank Dawn, Mel and Daniel for the donation of bottled water, we are always happy to take water or soft drinks especially in the hot weather.
A special thank you to Gita Mistry who sent us a huge donation of non-perishable food to be distributed among our service users, in memory of her last husband Raj Mistry, we were honoured to be able to support.
We would like to thank M&S, Sainsburys and Morrisons this week for donations of surplus waste food that we collect each week and deliver to all the causes we support.
Team Homeless Hampers
Sunday 13th July 2025
The guys have really struggled with this the weather, we started the night by giving everyone queuing ice cold flavoured water, which everyone appreciated, we went through 30 litres of water. We then let people through the queue In two’s, they collected a meal of the their choice and a dessert, followed by another hot and cold drink to keep them well dehydrated. Tonight as well as the regulars that don’t queue for health reasons, we prioritised our street homeless to be served first many hungry and dry. Lots of people asking for wipes so they can just freshen up, they have no other choice. Lots of men in particular asking for T-Shirts and caps, the team in the van did thier best to support as many people as they could. As hot as it was but a much calmer night the last week, having said that, we still helped 163 people tonight.
One individual arrived crying with hunger, we didn’t make him queue, we just served him he took his plate and we followed him with his dessert and hot drink, to find him sitting on the floor sharing his meal with another homeless friend. This really touched us and saddened us to see the pair trying to satisfy their hunger.
A young lady arrived, just wearing a pair of socks as her shoes had been stolen as she slept, again really hungry, forgetting she had no shoes on feet, we got her some food and she then found her a pair of trainers, preloved but she loved them and put them on her feet straight away and thanked us.
It’s been a busy week, we have been out delivering white appliances and furniture to people newly housed. We have donated TV’s all completely funded by Homeless Hampers.
The team have been busy delivering, food into the hostels in Leeds and Bradford.
We have restocked the Homeless breakfast club for another week.
Homeless Hampers have supported 5 food banks with donations.
Who made this week possible:
Our volunteers thank you to each and everyone that stands with us on a Sunday night in all weathers, our volunteers that deliver food/ meals into the hostels in Leeds and Bradford. Our volunteers that support us with collecting and dropping food and items.
Our volunteers that cook and bake and our volunteers that man the drop off points.
Thank you to the businesses that support us in our work:
Punjabi Heaven
Singh’s
Greggs
morrison
Sainsbury
M&S
Waitrose
Tesco
Finally thank you to each and every one of you for your generous donation of clothes, furniture and preloved appliance. Thank you to everyone that made a financial donation, generous people even offered to by much needed trainee.
Only working together can we make a difference.
Team Hampers
Sunday 6th July 2025
There are people accessing our services that have homes, we judge no one as we don’t know what people’s circumstances are, but we are seeing, some resentment from our street homeless community, who feel they should be served first, a difficult choice us to make, there are some individuals that that we do prioritise, we have a few people that visit a wheelchair bound and they don’t queue. We always have plenty to feed everyone, and we do run out we will buy meals, we don’t send anyone away hungry.
A few people turned up with sores on their feet wearing ill fitting shoes, we could see the pain on one individuals face, he took his shoes and socks off to show us the sores, we cleaned and dressed the sores for him and gave him new socks unfortunately we didn’t have a pair of shoes his size to give him, by just dressing the open wounds made him better, we gave him some dressing to take away with him and asked him to visit the medical service available for the homeless as soon as he can, we later walked past him and we saw him sharing his dressing with a female homeless friend. Some of them do look after each other.
As homelessness grows the demands we face grow food, clothes,shoes and sleeping bags, we have seen the usage our disposable plates, cups and cutlery double in this last year. Tonight one of our homeless friends commented that if we weren’t offering the support we do things would be a whole lot worse for them, we know a lot people have mental health needs, addiction and most their reasons for homelessness is completely out there control loss private rental homes, loss of jobs, relationships break down, there are so many reasons, but after a night life tonight we praise our volunteers for all there support as without them we can’t do what we do, and tomorrow most of us return to our nine to five jobs.
It really has been exceptionally busy week, with gardening projects, food drops into the hostels 7 days a week, supporting the breakfast club. This week we donate toys, prams, car seats to a community group that supports struggling families. We donated food to 5 food banks, and community hubs.
Next week we will be back out delivering white appliance and furniture to people newly housed.
We would like to thank:
Jane for make a sausage pasta for tonight.
Punjabi Heaven for donating curries and rice.
Nandos for the chicken again served tonight.
Singhs for the meals we delivered into the homeless shelters.
Jo, Saul and Elodie for the home baking.
We would like to thank the Boys Eden Leases Academy for donating beautifully made hampers for our homeless community.
We thank the Sharma family for donating Pasta and snack packs an amazing selfless family.
We would like to thank Kiwinka lds for providing pasta meals.
Thank you the Leeds Male Voice Choir for their monetary donation of £60.
Thank you to Sainsburys, M&S, Morrison and Greggs for their generous support.
Once again our humbled gratitude goes to our wonderful volunteers.
Team Homeless Hampers
Sunday 8th June 2025
Lots of new faces tonight, but few old ones made an appearance that we have not seen for the last 3 years or so.
There was a high demand for sleeping bags again tonight, several people came to us as they were caught in the rain and were wet through, an individual became very upset with us as we didn’t have a sleeping bag to offer him, his had been stolen.
Another individual much the same had his stolen, fortunately we had one sleep pod that we able to provide him with, he became quite emotional that he would be dry and warm, we asked him to take extra care of the sleep pod as they are hard to come by.
We completely sympathise and understand people frustrations but as the number of people sleeping rough grows the more demands we face.
Tonight we ran out of food and handful people turned up late but we had no food to offer them, but we could see they were hungry so we took them to a shop locally and bought them a meal and sweet treats, we watched them eat and we could see how hungry they were.
All usual support continued this week, the team continue to deliver food into the homeless shelters, we continue to provide food into the food banks.
Once again we filled the pantry at St Anne’s so our homeless community can continue to access a hot breakfast.
We thank ourself less volunteers for joining us tonight, we were a bit light on the ground but everyone did a brilliant job.
Thank you to Steve for his amazing continued support.
Thank you to Catherine for cooking beef stew, always enjoyed by all.
Thank you to Punjabi Heaven for all your support with meals.
Thank you to Singh restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.
Thank you to Amanda, Jo, Saul and Elodie for their delicious home baking.
A special thank you to Kiwinka Lds and Razwan for making 50 chilli and rice meals for the very first time to support us, this really helped us to feed more people.
A special mention to all the supermarkets M&S, Sainsburys & Morrisons for their amazing food donations.
Just a big heart felt thank you to everyone that supports us with our work we can’t do what we do without you all.
Hampers
Sunday 1st June 2025
The outreaches have been busier for the last few weeks, the numbers are growing and there are so many new faces, our regular homeless community echo what we are currently seeing tonight we supported 183 people but the last few weeks we have reached over 200. We just about sustaining the food support we are offering on a Sunday night but tonight we were slightly worried that we would run out of hot food, fortunately we reduced portion sizes so everyone would be fed, to take away we provided everyone with a sandwiches, pastries, crisps and sweet snacks. People with homes took food away they could cook, including fruit and vegetables. The team served soup as people queued, not cold just a little chill with the cold wind, so Helen’s homemade soup was appreciated.
The team on foot were equally as busy and they came across 50 people that did not attend the street kitchen, we provided them all with a meatball pasta, sandwiches and sweet treats.
Several people came to ask for advice and we were able to sign post them to the appropriate services, which included advice on debt, housing and where appropriate to seek medical assistance.
The team in the van had a constant queue for sleeping bags, clothes and toiletries. At the moment lots people are asking for dog food, if it helps them keep their companion, we are happy to provide food for their dogs.
When we set all those years ago we never envisioned the things we currently seeing, after our team volunteers left us two of regulars came back for a chat, both really finding it difficult to access the support they need, but thanked for constant support we offer every week.
A young man new to us told us he had heard of us some weeks ago but was too ashamed to admit he needed her help, but tonight hunger bought him to us and he was relieved he plucked up the courage to visit us, he just felt the team made him feel and ease and welcomed and no one judged for needing our support.
Another young we have supported for 4 years came to tell us that he was accommodated and off the streets, however while on the streets he had been accepted at university and he sat his exams, awaiting his results but he is one year off of gaining his law degree. His smile was beaming and he took great pleasure in telling us his news, he was grateful for the support we had given him, he wanted to thank us for giving him a pair shoes when he first visited us and for feeding him every week, know this is the reminder we need why it’s important to keep doing what we do.
We have continued our support into the food-banks, we continued providing food in the homeless shelter in Leeds and Bradford.
We have provided breakfast provisions into the homeless resource centre, we also provided a 100 litres of shower gel so at the very least our street homeless has the dignity of having a shower and feel clean and as we also provide washing powder they can wash and wear clean clothes.
Thank you to everyone that supports Homeless Hampers, we can’t do what we do without you all.
Thank you to Amy, her colleagues and customers at Chapel House Pub Low Moor Bradford for donating 11 bags of clothes supporting donations of items we listed as our urgent requirements. We also thank Chapel House for being one of our donation drop off points.
Thank you to Steve for his amazing continued support.
Thank you to Catherine for the beef stew.
Thank you to Punjabi Heaven hot meals your support is always appreciated.
Thank you to Singh restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.
Thank you to Linz, Sharon, Emma, Janine, Jo, Saul and Elodie for their delicious home baking.
Thank you to Nandos for the weekly donation of chicken.
Thank you to Katie for supplying us with meat and poultry.
Thank you to Greggs for all their support.
A special mention to all the supermarkets M&S, Sainsburys & Morrisons for their amazing food donations.
Thank you to Manning and Stainton for volunteering with us and giving us their valuable time.
A special thank you to Team Marci for joining us for the first time as volunteers you were all amazing.
Thank you to Team Hampers that make every week possible and all your hard work 7 days a week.
Hampers
Sunday 11th May 2025
Thankfully finally a warmer evening, regardless of their circumstances people were in a good mood and pleasant, one individual even helped us clean up and pick up any mess left behind.
This winter has been along one and we just felt it for our rough sleepers, one individual collected a few bits from the van thanked us for helping him and said he was looking forward to sleeping under the stars tonight. You can’t help feeling sadness, as we know he doesn’t have any other choice but to sleep under the stars.
The warmer weather took a bit pressure off our volunteers managing the donations in our van, the biggest ask for tonight was boxers, socks and suitable foot wear, another individual arrived to in a pair of sliders that he worn for he last 2 weeks regardless of the weather conditions we gave him a pair of preloved trainers, he was just made up the trainers were everything to him, he repeatedly thanked us.
Tonight we supported 187 people with hot meals, drinks, clothes and other essentials. We ensured people ate really well, thank you to Helen for soup, alway goes down well as people queue.
Thank you to our cooks , Catherine for the beef and venison stew, thank you to Steve for the spicy bean stew, thank you to Punjabi Heaven for donating, rice, noodles and 2 types of curries. As always thank you to Singh’s for the lentils and rice, the team distributed into the hostels tonight. Thank you to Dina & Dharamesh for vegetable samosas. Thank you to Katie for donating 220 cheese and onion sandwiches. Thank you to Sharon for the cake, chocolate and monetary donation. Thank you to Jo and Saul for homemade cake, thank you to Kirsten for the brownies, thank you the Jane cat food and cat litter.
This week we were able to support 6 food banks with donations.
Demand for support is extremely high, we would be grateful of any tinned and dry packet food donations.
We delivered clean bedding and towels into the Bradford hostels this week.
We restocked the breakfast club pantry.
A really busy week, but none of this would be possible if it was not for our volunteers, giving us their valuable time.
Team Hampers
Sunday 4th May 2025
May felt really chill tonight. We learnt that people had joined our food queue 2 hours before we arrived. When we pulled up in the van we looked over and saw the long daunting queue, to be honest with the numbers we are currently seeing, we worry about having enough food to feed everyone. But things are really unpredictable at the moment, we still manage to support and feed 177 people. We are kept busy all evening. Lots of people asking for sleeping bags and we ran out.
We watched people arrive and then walk away as they didn’t want to queue so our numbers could have been higher. Some where trying to jump the, which we closely monitor as we know others have stood patiently for a while.
We watched people queue along our van many in unsuitable clothes to keep them warm, and with unsuitable footwear, an individual arrived wearing a pair of shorts and a pair of sliders his legs and feet covered in sores he was in pain and asked for dressing, we provided clean dressing and and a tube of antiseptic cream, he tells us he’s had these sores all throughout winter, and for the last 2 weeks he hasn’t had a pair of shoes. That’s the theme at the moment so many people with infected feet, the team at St Anne’s asked us to supply socks as there are so many people with bad feet. We provided them with over a hundred pair of socks along with clean underwear. We know these will be depleted in no time.
We have not posted for a week or two, it’s just that things are busy and the demand for support is high, during the week we are out supporting the hostels and dealing with requests for support from other charities and commissioned services, in the last two weeks we have supported to set up 8 new homes with house hold items and white appliances. We have bought new, microwaves and pots, cutlery. On a Sunday we start receiving calls for support at 7am and this has been consistent.
Tonight we saw several more new faces, and several released from prison with no support, one individual took the time to thank us for being there to support and said he would receive his benefit in 2 weeks and wanted to return to make a donation, which we politely declined and told him he didn’t need to pay us.
We have continued to support the homeless breakfast club and even St Anne’s numbers are doubling and they too are seeing people with complex needs.
We learn there are no beds available in the hostels and where possible hotel beds are funded. Continue to provide our support.
Thank you to are cooks and bakers:
Catherine- Beef stew
Steve- Spicy Bean stew
Jo, Saul and Elodie- Cakes
Sharon- cakes
Linz -cakes
Jane – Sausage pasta
Punjabi Heaven- curries and rice
Singhs Dhal and Rice for homeless hostels
Amar and family for the samosas
This year we had 567 Easter Eggs donated we would like to thank everyone that supported our cause.
We would like to thank Johnson’s Hotel Linen for donating clean bedding and towel packs, which we delivered into the homeless hostels and provided to newly housed people.
We would like to thank our team in Burley in Wharfdale for making up very generously filled pamper packs , which we delivered into the ladies hostels to celebrate international women’s day, thank you to Sandra, Linz, Janine and Gill for making this possible and thank you to everyone that donated.
Thank you to the supermarkets, Morrisons, Sainsburys and M&S for donating us non-perishable food as well as surplus waste food, we know these collections are late into the evenings but we help them reduce landfill as we know there are people living in food poverty.
Thank you to Helen for donating us much needed dog food.
Thank you to Beanies Masato and Sue for supporting us for the last few months with donations of new clothes, socks and boxers.
We probably have a lot more people and organisations that we wish we could mention you all but genuinely without you all we can’t do what we do.
Thank you to the people supporting and managing our drop off points.
Thank you to everyone that sent us a financial donation.
Most importantly thank you to volunteer for giving us their valuable time.
Here’s some of our work from the last few weeks.
Team Hampers
Sunday 7th April 2025
We were floored, with the numbers that visited us for support tonight, we were dreading the day we would exceed numbers of over 200, unfortunately that night was tonight, we supported 215 people, the queue just kept growing, hats off to our team for managing the food supply as no one went away hungry, we even ended up buying supplies to just keep the food supply going. Equally our team on foot, faced the same demand, they left our base with well filled trollies and returned with empty ones. They may have been more but several people came and looked at the long queue and walked away, many braved it and stood or sat on the pavement patiently, pretty exhausting evening.
Tonight we also had grandparents that bought their grandchildren along for food, we had to sign post them to a more suited resource as we ask people not to bring children, we fed them and gave them food to take away, with them.
It saddened us to learn a man was sleeping in a tent with his young son. We can’t even say things are on a steady decline as we are hearing so many horrific stories about challenges people are facing and the sad decisions they are having to make. The homeless community themselves find these circumstance distressing, we believe they have been accessed.
During the week we have been just as busy, the team have been out providing meals into the hostels and visited a Bradford hostel, just desperate for meat so they can provide the residence, with hearty meal. We provided frozen meat as they requested to last a few weeks.
We provided breakfast donations to the St Anne’s breakfast club, we have increased the amount as their number attending has increased, like us they too are seeing new faces.
This week we provided new items to an individual just housed after living on the streets for a while.
Thank you to Johnson Hotel Linen we able to supply a van full of bedding packs to a 40 bed homeless hostels so people can sleep in clean bedding.
Non perishable donation were made into the food banks.
Thank you to everyone that has donated Easter Eggs this week we have already delivered 160 Easter eggs, we believe in social inclusion and everyone should be part of all our celebrations.
Thank you to Catherine for cooking the chicken stew all appreciated.
Thank you to Ram board Sikh temple for supporting us with meals.
Thank you to Punjabi Heaven for donating a delicious curry.
Thank you to Singh restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.
Thank you to Sandeep for making a huge donation of non perishable food in her beloved husband memory, who always supported our homeless community.
Thank you to Kirsten for the delicious crumble cakes.
Thank to young Elodie for her lovely cakes. Working towards her Duke of Edinburgh.
Thank you to Sharon and her mum for her baking the guy loved your baking.
Thank to Katie for donating surplus food and extra pastries and cakes, we had a lot food tonight, but came away with completely empty boxes.
Thank you to Margaret for collecting valuable donations of clothing, hats and gloves and essential we require.
Thank you to Helen for donating delicious home made soup, which really is appreciated in the winter months.
A special thank you to Wakefield Street Kitchen for filling our van with crates of soft drinks and sweets, they have pledged to continue supporting us, only working together can we make a difference.
We have had incredible week of donation, thank you to each and every one of you, we have received much needed food donations, clothes and monetary support.
We couldn’t do all we do without your support as we are a small grassroots charity facing some big demands
We are always grateful and proud of all our volunteers for their selfless service.
Hampers
Sunday 16th March 2025
It was a cold one tonight, thank you to Helen for continuing to provide 10 litres of piping hot soup it really helps on nights like tonight.
We had five volunteers working out of the van providing clothes, sleeping bags, blankets, toiletries and other essentials, as we knew the queue would be long.
We supported 155 people tonight, people queued patiently as our volunteers worked their way through the queue, no went away hungry we always make sure people are fed. People with homes took away plenty to cook for themselves for a couple days.
A lady visited admitting she wasn’t homeless but she couldn’t afford to pay her electric bill, just needed a hot meal.
Another lady in a wheelchair fleeing a hostile environment has ended sofa surfing at a friend’s house again she has no heating, took away a blanket to keep herself warm. We sign posted her to as where she could be supported, had she not had a roof over her head tonight we would have offered her a hotel bed for tonight.
We have been supporting an individual for some time he’s now off the streets and been accommodated, he expressed of wanting to find employment and before becoming homeless he was a tiler so we managed to find him some employment which he started this week and we have been keeping up with his progress and it’s quite humbling to watch the fruits of his labour.
This week we learnt the numbers attending the homeless breakfast club has grown up and upon visiting the resource centre we found an empty ladder, which we have filled buy increasing our breakfast food donations.
As we do every week we filled our vans twice with donations for the food bank drops.
Amazing work by volunteers that have been dropping meals across 7 days into the homeless hostels.
This week we have provided smaller items for people newly housed.
We are humbly grateful to everyone that makes each week possible:
Thank you to the LDS Church in Menston for all their help, including helping to sort donations and making sandwiches for Outreach every week
Thank you to Catherine for cooking up a hearty chicken casserole always popular with our service users.
Thank you to Steve for his amazing continued support.
Thank you to Lou for donating meat pasta, enjoyed everyone.
Thank you to Punjabi Heaven for donating an abundance of food, we were able to fill take away containers so people had meals to see them through for a few days, your support is always appreciated.
Thank you to Singh restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.
Thank you to Sharon and her mum for baking cakes.
Thank you to Jo, Saul and Elodie for baking.
Thank you to Penny for donating cakes and thank you to Dawn for delivering.
As always thank you to the Sharma family for donating snack packs and our first batch of Easter Eggs.
Thank you to Dharmishta, Chetan & family for donating 30 snack packs and hot meals, that our team on foot disputed to the homeless community that chose not to attend the static kitchen.
A special mention to all the supermarkets M&S, Sainsburys & Morrisons for their amazing food donations.
Another special thank you to everyone that act as our collection points.
A very special thank to the Manning Stainton team for coming out to volunteer with us tonight you were all amazing and thank you for all your support.
Team Hampers
Sunday 9th March 2025
It always puts people in a better mood when they are that little bit warmer and having to sleep rough is that bit manageable. Just a little chill in the air.
Tonight we supported 160 people with hot meals, hot drinks, clothes and our necessities. People struggling with the cost living had plenty choice to take food away with them so they can prepare meals.
This week we received a very generous donation of new thermal underwear wear from the family of the late Terry Bullen, the family donated the donated the underwear to us as he would have wanted to help ours, we hope they take some comfort from knowing all the underwear was distributed and people are that bit warmer tonight. Thank you to Dawn for delivering the donation to us.
The queue for sleeping bags and clothes was just as warm as the queue for food, we provided lots of toiletries. All in all a very busy night.
This week we put food support into 9 homeless hostels in Leeds and Bradford thank you to our team that delivers the meals.
This week we have been able to support 4 food banks and community hubs with food donations, each of them feedback to let us number of people we helped them to support.
Once again we ensure the homeless breakfast club was well stocked, so our street homeless can access a hot breakfast 5 mornings a week.
This week we support 4 food banks with food donations.
This week we would like to thank:
Catherine- chicken stew
Steve – Spicy bean and vegetable stew
Jo, Saul and Elodie- Cakes
Sharon- cakes
Punjabi Heaven- curries and rice
Singhs Dhal and Rice for homeless hostels
Margaret for cake and collecting much needed clothes.
Janet and RETINK FOOD for their generous donation of disposable cups and food containers.
Beanies Masato- for donating new socks and boxer shorts.
Alpkits – for sending us 6 preloved sleeping bags( they were all distributed tonight)
A very special thank you to our Homeless Hampers Trustee David for sourcing a donation of 100 brand new jogging bottoms these really are an essential requirement for our homeless community. The generous donation was made by PenCarrie.
Thank you to the LDS Church in Menston for all their help, including helping to sort donations and making sandwiches for Outreach every week
Thank you to the supermarkets, Morrisons, Sainsburys and M&S for donating us non-perishable food as well as surplus waste food, we know these collections are late into the evenings but we help them reduce landfill as we know there are people living in food poverty.
Thank you to the people supporting and managing our drop off points.
Thank you to everyone that sent us a financial donation.
We are really pleased to announce that we were again awarded our 5 Star food hygiene rating by Food Standards Agency.
Some had noticed that we hadn’t posted for the last 2 weeks, Aky and I just needed a break as we work full time and the charity is another full time job, the last year really has been challenging with the growing demand and we hate to say this as we know some have no choice but to sleep rough but we found this winter really difficult but we grateful we have warm homes to return to at the end of each Sunday night. We would like to thank Christine a much valued Trustee and all our selfless volunteers for taking care of things and making sure people were looked after while we took some time away.
Team Hampers
Sunday 2nd February 2025
Several new faces visited us tonight, several of our homeless community brought along other homeless people new to our city, there is something about the homeless community and how they build up a relationship with each other and those new to the city and the way look out for each other. Some come across, with a toughness about them, but we suspect it’s the way they have to be to survive on the streets, but genuinely we see another side to them a caring side. One individual wanted all the ladies queuing to go go ahead, before he did, an extremely kind gesture, we end up saying to him he in guest there won’t be anything left for you, he said ladies first.
One individual came up to us at the end of the night, completely alone and thanked us for the kindness and compassion we had shown him.
Tonight we supported 176 people with meals, hot and cold drinks, those with homes filled their bags so the could eat for a day or two, our homeless community took away additional snacks, have later, we provided clean clothes, underwear, wipes and deodorants, it the only way our home community clean themselves with a bit dignity that they deserve.
We recognised a familiar face that we had not seen in a while, because he’s turned his life around, he’s been housed and he’s so proud of his new home, he has a girlfriend that has helped build his life, he has work that’s given him focus, he even proudly told us, he saved up and went on his first holiday, he then turned around and told his girlfriend these guys proved the best meals and he offered to pay us for a meal, would have just given it to him, but today we were a little short, his girlfriend reminded him he no longer needs our help as others needed it more, we wished him well and he thanked us for being there in some of his darkest moments.
This week we provided three single beds one to an individual newly accommodated and the other two to children so they no longer need to sleep in an over crowded bed.
We also provided a couple creates of toothbrush and toothpaste paste to a community that live in one of the most deprived areas of Leeds, as requested by local authority so they can work on oral hygiene with the youngsters.
One again we well stocked the pantry and freezers of St Anne’s so they can continue to provide a hot breakfast for our street homeless.
Two food banks supported with donations of non-perishable, tinned and packet food.
We are humbly grateful to:
Catherine for cooking the chicken stew all appreciated.
Marilyn for cooking a beef chilli throughly enjoyed by all.
Thank you to Punjabi Heaven for donating a delicious curry.
Steve for the bean stew, nice to cater for everyone.
Karen for donating some pulled pork, sausages, beef stew and a cream cake.
Thank you to Singh restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.
Thank to young Saul & Elodie for her lovely cakes. Working towards her Duke of Edinburgh.
Lou and Josh for coming out and volunteering and also providing bagels and cream cheese.
Thank to Katie for donating surplus food and extra pastries and cakes, we had a lot food tonight, but came away with completely empty boxes.
Thank you to Helen for donating delicious home made soup, which really is appreciated in the winter months.
A special thank you to Wakefield Street Kitchen for donating soft drinks.
We have had incredible week of donation, thank you to each and every one of you, we have received much needed food donations, clothes and monetary support. A late but a special thank you to The Otley film club for donating £200.
We are always grateful and proud of all our volunteers for their selfless service.
Can we please make another polite request in regards to clothing donations we can only take items listed on our poster, as kind as it was to receive 32 bags of clothes, only half were suitable for the people that use our services, the rest we have had to find new homes for, taking up a lot of valuable time of our volunteers, so once again please consider only donating items we require.
Sunday 26th January 2025
We have come away from tonight outreach full of sadness, at the end of the night as we set off, we witness a gentleman rummaging trough a street bin where people attending the street kitchen had disposed of their disposable plates, we sat and watched for a moment, we then saw him pull out a piece of half eaten cake and he started eating it, watching this bought tears, we have seen a lot in our time of running Homeless Hampers but this really wasn’t easy to see. We pulled the van over and beckoned him over, we spoke to him, his English was broken but we worked out, he was starving we gave him a bag full of food and he just ate as fast as he could, and the relief on his face again difficult to witness. Like everyone often comment this should be happening in this day and age we too agree no one should go hungry.
Normally we write about our work and the numbers we support each week, we know what we do is challenging and at times heartbreaking, but we try to remain upbeat and focused on the people we support but this week we read a homeless man froze to death sleeping in a bin shed in London in -7 temperatures, and it’s these events that affect us the most, ironically only this week we put out an appeal for warm clothes and sleeping bags, knowing that we maybe able to save a life and then we read this. We can’t help feeling sadness tonight. RIP
We will keep our post short tonight but thank everyone that supports Homeless Hampers, thank you to everyone that’s donates food, clothes and essential, thank you to all the supermarkets, restaurants that make each week possible.
Above all thank you to the Homeless Hampers volunteers for their selfless service 7 days a week and making all the support we offer to our homeless and vulnerable communities possible.
Without you all we can’t do what we do, so another heartfelt thank you.
Sunday 19th January 2025
This winter seems to be along one, everyone just frozen but queued patiently. Lots people accommodated in the hostels and B&B’s came out to see us tonight as there is no other provision, as cold as it we still supported 157 people. The chill in the air was bitter and just standing back and watching people as they ate you could see the comfort in their faces as they ate a hot meal.
We are shortly going to run low on our sleeping bag stock so we are doing our best to only provide to those that have none, but so many people are asking for an extra sleeping so they can layer up, we just hope with what we currently have we make it for through the winter. Just having to make difficult choices. So many of our rough sleepers with angry looking sores on their hands. The team provided alot warm clothes and we returned home with empty boxes.
Telling times our tables were ladened with donations of non perishable food and again we came away with empty baskets.
Our queues are becoming longer and some of the later arrivers are put off to be the one at the end. Some try and jump the queue, the team do an amazing job to police this as we know many have already queued for an hour or two. It’s sad to hear people say the food on our table is going to run out, but we ensure no one goes away hungry as we will buy them a meal.
What else have we done this week.
Our support into the food banks continue, we provided.
We stocked up the homeless breakfast club with donations so our street homeless community can continue to receive a hot breakfast. We also provided washing powder so the guys can wash their clothes and sleeping bags.
The team continue to deliver meals into the hostels we support In Leeds and Bradford. We also provided hygiene packs to be distributed to new people being accommodated in the hostels.
We thank:
Thank you to Kirsten for cooking the chicken stew and a crumble all appreciated.
Thank you to Punjabi Heaven for donating chickpea curry and paneer wraps.
Thank you to Singh restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.
Thank you to Nandos for donating an abundance of chicken, which we served with chips. People really appreciate it.
Thank you to Helen for the homemade soup, it warmed people up.
A special thank you to Anna Wakefield Street Kitchen for donating us creates drinks and non perishable food.
We have had incredible week of donation, thank you to each and every one of you, we have received much needed food donations, clothes and monetary support.
Tonight we had several news volunteers, we always ask how found the night and they all said a sad but rewarding experience.
If you want to give us your valuable time as volunteer please sign up on our website.