Strangers buy 200 meals for homeless through pub app

Organiser Chris Illman has experienced homelessness himself

Strangers have bought 200 pub meals for homeless people in Derby as part of an online game.

Organiser Chris Illman sat in the city's Babington Arms - a Wetherspoon outlet - on Monday while people watching a live-stream ordered food for his table using the pub chain's app.

The target of 200 burger meals was reached after just 28 minutes, then distributed by two homeless charities.

Mr Illman, who has experienced homelessness himself, said people had been very generous.

"It went really, really well," he said.

"Twenty-eight minutes for 200 meals is not bad going at all. Some people sent 10 meals, and several people sent four or five, so there were some quite big orders coming through.

"I appreciate all the help from the staff - they made us feel really welcome here."

The pub erupted in cheers when the total of 200 meals was reached

Mr Illman originally set up the game in 2018, after going through a difficult time.

"I was diagnosed with cancer and split up with my wife at the same time, and things just got out of hand and I ended up living in my car," he said.

"So I was having treatment, sleeping in my car, going back to hospital, back and forth."

Explaining how the game normally works, Mr Illman said people posted photos of themselves on his Facebook page, called Wetherspoons The Game!.

They also share the name of the pub and their table number, so strangers can send them food or drinks.

"I've always asked myself why people do it and I think it's the thought of being kind," he said.

Macaulay Lawson and Lauren Radbourne helped cook the food and package it up

Buying meals for homeless people is an offshoot of the original idea.

Every month, Mr Illman travels from his home in Hampshire to a different city in the UK.

He arranges the events in advance with each pub, to make sure they have enough food in.

He then starts live-streaming on Facebook and times how long it takes people to order all the meals.

"Our record so far is we got sent 300 burgers in 19 minutes and 53 seconds," he said.

Tim Sidaway and Jules Thom collected food for Street Safe Derby

In the latest event, Gears of Goodwill took half of the burger meals and Street Safe Derby took the other half.

Jonathan Cooke, from Gears of Goodwill, said the meals would "make a big difference to people".

"Thank you to everybody who has bought a meal," he said.

"We really appreciate it, especially when times are difficult with money for people."

Alan Lindsey was among volunteers from Gears of Goodwill who collected food

Mr Illman said people had bought more than 3,000 meals this year alone.

"They want to help support homeless people but they don't know how to do it, and this is a way of directly giving to homeless people," he said.

Speaking about his own experience of homelessness, he said: "I found it a struggle and I had a car to sleep in.

"I hate to think how much of a struggle it is to sleep on the streets."

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