'THESE PEOPLE ARE SOMEONE'S SON OR DAUGTHER'

Shocked and saddened at the recent deaths of five young people sleeping rough in the city, Alastair and his sister Joanne decided to take action.

Alastair of Greymount Park, Finvoy explained: “In March I was out at friends birthday party in Belfast and the next morning I heard that a young homeless woman had been found dead in a shop doorway. I went down the town to do a bit of shopping and actually past the place where she had died. Reading the cards, messages and seeing the flowers really broke my heart. I thought...while I was enjoying myself this poor girl was lying dying alone. This is the fifth death this year and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. These people are someone’s son or daughter, nobody should be living and certainly nobody should be dying on our streets. So I mentioned it to my sister Joanne and she said ‘lets do something about it’.”

Joanne, who now lives in Portrush contacted the Welcome Organisation in Belfast to ask how they could help.

Joanne explained: “The Welcome Organisation work 24 hours and day, 365 days a year and offer a nighttime outreach programme where the