Liam Gallagher sends trainers to Blackburn homeless shelter

Liam Gallagher also held a concert to raise funds for the Blackburn charity

Liam Gallagher has sent designer trainers to young people staying at a homeless shelter in Lancashire.

The former Oasis frontman sent 30 pairs of the special edition Adidas shoes to the Blackburn-based Nightsafe charity.

It comes after Gallagher performed a special gig to raise funds for the shelter earlier this year.

Gallagher developed a relationship with the charity through his friend, Gary Aspden, who is an Adidas designer from Darwen.

Jan Larkin, chief executive of Nightsafe, said the gifts were "the icing on top of the Christmas cake".

Nightsafe works with young people aged 16 to 24 who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness and provide accommodation, information, advice and guidance.

"It's just a wonderful, special gift for our kids," she said.

Gallagher tweeted: "To all the youths staying in the Nightsafe hostels in Blackburn and Darwen - hope you all enjoy your Nightsafe Adidas LG2 SPZL trainers this Xmas. Big love to Jan and all the Nightsafe staff for the Biblical work they do."

Ms Larkin said how the charity's relationship with the star developed after a "chance meeting" with Mr Aspden four years ago.

She said: "Gary popped into one of our shelters and said he was a Darwen lad and wanted to give something back. He told us he was a designer for Adidas and wanted to design a trainer for us.

"I had no idea this was such a big deal. People collect these shoes and when he launched this new design in Blackburn there was huge queues, it really helped promote our work."

Ms Larkin said earlier this year Mr Aspden got back in touch to offer another "treat".

'Such a nice chap'

"He called and said he had a friend who wanted to do a concert for us, I said 'who's your friend'. When he said Liam Gallagher, I was gobsmacked," she said.

Ms Larkin went on to meet Gallagher at the concert at King George's Hall in Blackburn in April.

"I met him at the soundcheck and he wanted to know all about Nightsafe. I know he has this big persona of being a worldwide superstar, but he was lovely, such a nice chap," she said.

She added: "We're a small charity and we employ a lot of volunteers so the concert and donations like this are great, they really give us all a boost."