Staff from Church Housing Trust were incredibly impressed by a group of Sea Cadet volunteers who chose to work with them as the final task of their National Citizen Service social action project.

After hearing pitches from various charities in London, the young adults opted to help homeless people, as it is a topic they felt close to, especially growing up in London.

Following an activity session with Church Housing Trust, they decided they wanted to find a way to directly support rough sleepers. The project had to be developed entirely by the young people.

Over several weekend sessions, they planned and resourced a day of activity where they would find areas of need where they could safely approach rough sleepers, have a chat with them, and provide them a packed meal.

They met with Church Housing Trust board member Mark Bolton, a former rough sleeper, who told them about his own experience of homelessness and his journey out of it.

They spent time planning routes where individuals were sleeping rough, and then prepared and packed crisps, sandwiches, chocolate and biscuits, fruit, water, and some dog biscuits that were kindly donated.

Church Housing Trust Communications Manager Nicole Holgate said: “We were so impressed by the group, and pleased to get the chance to tell them about homelessness and work with them on some practical action.

“They were all really attentive, asking very intelligent questions, and worked very hard to behave sensitively towards people in difficult situations. I think we both inspired one another.”