After the news broke of a young homeless woman found dead in a park in Cardiff, local residents decided to take to the streets to provide warm clothes, sleeping bags and hot drinks to the people living outside in the freezing cold weather.

One of the organisers, Victoria Morgan said “My grandchildren were up in arms that someone in their city had died out in the cold and asked what are we doing about it? They couldn’t believe it that people in this city were dying in the cold and were adamant that we should all act”.

The adults got together, put a call out through social media for donations in the form of coats, hats, gloves, sleeping bags etc and then set up every Friday to hand them out to people in need on the streets.

According to fellow organiser Caroline Field “We’ve seen an overwhelming need on the streets for warm clothes. Last week half of our stock went within the hour due to a situation where many of their belongings had been taken that morning. The temperature dropped considerably from that day onward, and when you have a young woman coming up to the stall in flip flops, no coat and in need of food to cook on her small gas cooker in her tent in a park, you know you have to do something to help. We’ve had young men in need of underwear and women needing sanitary products and if we don’t have them on the stall we simply go and buy it and give it directly to them. “

The stall is set up every Friday behind the Aneuirn Bevan Statue in town where the need for this provision is so obvious even the community police officers have been directing homeless people to the area to get warm.

By now the word has spread around Cardiff within the homeless community and the city’s residence. Donations are coming in regularly and those who live on the street have developed a relationship with the Cardiff Coat Exchange Crew knowing they can come to the stall, get what they need without being judged. If the crew don’t have the supplies needed then they simply go and buy them.

“Yes there are hostels available for people to take shelter” says Victoria Morgan, “however accessing them isn’t always an option for some of the homeless people we meet. Doing this is an absolute eye opener – everyone has their story of why they have ended up in this situation and it really could be any of us at any time. Whatever their circumstances or issues, we are simply there to keep them warm, have a chat, a cuppa and even a laugh in a non-judgmental environment where everyone is welcome”.