We are trying to help as many homeless people in the Birmingham and West Midlands area as possible by providing 'goodie bags' with some essentials. Our bags usually include: gloves, scarfs, hats, underwear, deodorant, sandwichs and usually something a little nicer, like chocolate.

We started with our own money four years ago and managed to produce 33 bags. Some of you already know what we do, but we want to spread the message that EVERYONE matters. Since that first year, we have been raising money by doing raffles on cabaret nights. The idea behind it is to make the time of Christmas a little more bearable, and inclusive for everyone.

After our experience, talking with the homeless people four years ago, it confirmed everything we already knew. There is a misconception amongst many that all homeless people spend their money on drink and drugs, and for many homeless people, this is NOT the case. One homeless guy told us that he'd split up from his wife, they had children together, and for weeks he stopped with friends before running out of options. Meanwhile depression took hold, he had nowhere to go and needed to sleep on the streets for one night, and that one night turned into a year. This is just one example of how easy it is to go from having everything, to having nothing.

There are many reasons why people end up homeless including loosing their job, mental illness, debt problems and drug and alcohol use...

We want to show that we all care. We want to raise as much money as we can to produce as many goodie bags as possible this year and they will be distributed throughout Birmingham and the West Midlands in the middle of December.

We would like to include a hot drink and meal voucher for McDonald's but can only do this with your help. The average cost of a goodie bag is £7 - so the more money we raise, the more we can put in them, and the more we can distribute.

Ryan and Scott