PREGNANT women sleeping in tents under arches, smartly dressed men with no jobs and no homes wandering the streets...

Every week a dedicated group of volunteers from the Halesowen area come face to face with the growing problem of homelessness in the pandemic,

The Reach Out Birmingham volunteers nearly all live in Halesowen, Cradley or Colley Gate, but it’s the centre of Birmingham they go every weekend because that’s where the homeless congregate.

And, according to Jess Machin, there are more and more of them, and many of their cases are just ‘shocking.’

Normally the group would expect to see people, mainly men, aged 18-25.

But as the pandemic has made things worse, so the demographic has changed. Jess says she sees more women now, and more older people in their fifties and sixties.

The group was formed in 2018 and is made up of volunteers who advertise what they do through a Facebook page or word of mouth.

Through donations from local business and the generosity of local people the group collect food, clothes and toiletries which they deliver weekly.

But such are the ever growing consequences of Covid, they have now started local food parcel deliveries to families hit hard by lockdown and school closures.

The main driving force behind the group is Wendy Moore, from Colley Gate, who works at a Halesowen day nursery.

But since losing her job in March former media salesperson Jess, from the Abbeyfield Estate in Halesowen, has taken on more work, especially trying to spread the word.

It’s infectious. Jess’ two daughters, Evie, 12, an Earls pupil, and Florence, 8, who goes to Lapal Primary, are big helpers with the food prep and deliveries (though Florence is known to tuck into the ham during the sandwich making!).

About 8 to 10 volunteers do the weekly delivery run, seeing around 50 to 70 homeless people each week as they tour the street with hot and cold food and drinks, toiletries, hats, scarves and sleeping bags.

There is also the occasional pop-up tent.

Behind the scenes are another 3 to 4 key volunteers.

The group are overwhelmed by the generosity of local people.

“We really appreciate all the support we get. It’s a tricky time financially for people but we have been inundated with kindness.

“We have had so much food donated we are now supplying food parcels in the area.”

Key local support has come from: Tesco Cradley Heath (surplus food and drinks); Fareshare; Nisa in Colley Gate (fundraisers)

If you want to help Reach Out, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/439207293942987/?ref=share