Laura McSorley is the inspiration behind the Kindness Homeless Street Team in Glasgow and has built up a network of volunteers to feed, clothe and offer care to those most in need.
Laura started Kindness in October to combat homelessness in Glasgow. When Covid-19 hit, the need for support became greater and so Laura recruited a team of volunteers to expand the project.
The street team are based out of George Square and have given out 30,000 meals in the last two months.
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Laura said: “We have a whole host of volunteers including 22 chefs who cook for us, the owners of Eusebi Deli who organise a rota for making food and a van loaned by Peter Vardy. The help has been phenomenal.
“We give out 140-150 hot meals every night plus clothing, toiletries and bath towels if people are in hostels or have no access to washing machines. We also do furniture deliveries for those lucky enough to get accommodation so they can stay at home and not have to travel into town for food.”
Laura has changed many people’s lives by helping them to become more self-sufficient and allocating emergency housing but has helped one person in particular – an 18-year-old girl receiving cancer treatment.
Laura has done all she can to aid her journey to recovery.
Laura said: “We got a call from the housing association to say the girl had a property but needed help as the place was a shell. We ripped the whole house out and worked a bit of magic. Now it’s beautiful.
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“We’ve also been bringing her back and forth to hospital after chemotherapy to keep her spirits up.”
Dennize, a close contact of Laura’s, said: “I’ve not met Laura but I’m in awe of what she has achieved and the way she has managed to pull people together from every walk of life.
“I am a social worker and interestingly through my work I was supporting a family who were having difficulties and went to Laura’s team in George Square. They said they were treated with, in their own words, kindness.
“To hear that from someone else, someone who didn’t even know I knew Laura, was really special.
“Laura encompasses the heart of Glasgow and that stoic kindness – that ‘bring a chair to the table’ ethos. It was about feeding the homeless but it’s grown to so much more than that.”
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