Bromsgrove man collects 1,200 pieces of warm clothing

Alan Gormley launched his Coats for Streets appeal last month

A man has collected more than 1,200 items of clothing to give to homeless people.

Alan Gormley, from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, launched his Coats for Streets Appeal last month, asking the public to give unwanted items of warm clothing for charities and shelters.

He intends to spend the run-up to Christmas delivering the items to those who need them most.

Mr Gormley said he had been "gobsmacked" by people's kindness.

He said the donations had filled his garage and even spilled into his home, with items including coats, jumpers and sleeping bags as part of a spin-off appeal to collect bedding.

In total, Mr Gormley has 1,247 items to donate

He said he "didn't have a clue" in advance how much his appeal would generate, but said it was "amazing" to see people's generosity "particularly after all the hard times we are going through still with Covid".

"We have never done anything like this before, it was just a spur of the moment thing," Mr Gormley said.

"And we were absolutely gobsmacked by the kindness of people around here."

Donations have come from across Worcestershire, he said, adding he was spending Wednesday taking items to the YMCA at Sutton Coldfield.

"It was something I wasn't thinking about when we started, it was just homeless. But we got so many that we thought that let's open it up to vulnerable people as well," he said.

"We have been working with Migration Help as well in Birmingham so they have had some from us for people who are in very hard times, war-torn areas they have come from, they need a coat on their backs so we are happy to help."

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