Keep Sundays Warm: The reason behind the campaign

Elena Baeza Ruso, 21, shares why she started the Keep Warm Campaign:

Dorothy* approached me and showed me her soaking, frozen feet clothed in summer sandals. It was in the midst of the cold and wet October in Sheffield. She politely asked if there was any way I could get her a pair of winter shoes to replace the ones she was wearing, explaining how her feet felt numb from the extreme pain the cold caused. My heart immediately sank.

 I tried to reassure her, letting her know that the volunteers in charge of clothes would assist her very soon, and they would do everything they could to get her what she needed, but I couldn’t make any promises. 

 That was the moment I knew.

I used to feel sorry but looked away when I saw someone vulnerable in the street. When I could, I offered them some food, but nothing further from that. During this time of the year, I always thought to myself “They must be freezing, I would like to give them a blanket.” But I never actually did.

 Generally, most people feel bad when they see a homeless person on the street, but sadly only a few do anything to help.

We, Steel City Insider, want to change that.

Helping the homeless and vulnerable is something I have always wanted to do but never really knew how.

After a long period of research and many local charity visits, a colleague and I came across The Sunday Centre. We met Steve Clark, the chair, and he told us all about the organisation. Soon after that, we were volunteering there.

Steve said it was very hard to describe what the non-profit organisation does. He said: “The Sunday Centre gives nutritious homemade food to about one hundred guests.

“They can come and have a nice meal and a chat with their friends who have been going there for years, and then take clothes and toiletries that they need.”

But he is right. It is very hard to describe what the Sunday Centre is because it is so much more than that.

I met Dorothy* my first time volunteering with them, that chance meeting was a turning point for me. It was the moment I knew that something needed to be done.

The Keep Sundays Warm campaign is dedicated to collecting clothes to help those sleeping rough keep warm this winter as well as raising money to aid the Sunday Centre to continue its great work.

To find out more please visit our webpage and to donate please visit our GoFundMe

*Dorothy’s real name is being kept in order to protect her identity.