A VAN was loaned to a Wyre Forest homeless charity to deliver furniture to two men who had nothing in their homes but a bed.

The van, which was loaned to HELP volunteers on Sunday, allowed the charity to collect and drop off bedding, wardrobes, a fridge freezer and a washing machine to two people who the group helped into housing.

The vehicle was donated for the day by Pineland Furniture in Cleobury Mortimer, but HELP founder Dave Griffin says the charity urgently needs its own van to help more people off the streets.

He told The Shuttle: "We can help people in need to get into housing but when they get there, they've got nothing - their homes are empty.

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"We get a lot of people offering us furniture which is great, but the problem is we have no way of collecting or delivering it.

"The lads we helped on Sunday had nothing but a bed.

"Pineland loaned us one of their vans so that we could pick up and drop off some bedding, wardrobes, a fridge freezer and a washing machine.

"Hopefully it shows people what we could be doing if we had our own van and encourages more people to donate towards the Shuttle Run Appeal."

To celebrate our 150th anniversary this year, The Shuttle is aiming to raise £10,000 to fund a new van for HELP, which would allow the charity to collect more donations to help more people in need, and accept bigger donations such as furniture and household appliances.

Kidderminster Shuttle:

The appeal's fundraising total now stands at £4,903.72, meaning we're less than £100 away from the halfway milestone.

Shuttle editor Stephanie Preece said: "We're so close to the halfway mark now, which is absolutely fantastic. We're so grateful to everyone who has donated so far, in spite of these difficult times caused by the coronavirus crisis.

"Because of the pandemic, HELP is supporting more people in our area than ever before so it's in urgent need of its own van to deliver more donations to some of the most vulnerable people in Wyre Forest.

"Any donation, no matter how small, will be a huge help to help us reach our £10,000 total."

To donate online, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/the-shuttle-run-homeless-van-appeal.

Cheque donations can be sent to Kidderminster Shuttle, Second Floor, Copthall House, 1 New Road, Stourbridge DY8 1PH. Make them payable to HELP and write SHUTTLE RUN on the back.

Bank transfers should go to HELP, Lloyds Bank, account number 38430260, sort code 30-91-91.

Let us know how you're supporting the appeal by emailing emily.collis@newsquest.co.uk.