A Letchworth business owner, who has “shone a new light on homelessness and deprivation”, has received two nominations for our Comet Community Awards.
Shane Cole – owner of CC’s Street Food, based in Baldock – has been nominated in the Service to the Community category, after launching his initiative to feed the homeless this winter.
The scheme, Feed Up Warm Up, has gone from strength to strength since its inception in December last year.
His first nomination was submitted by Lucy Pinkstone, who wrote: “Shane, along with Yasmin – project c-oordinator – have been amazing in launching their charity, Feed Up Warm Up.
“They have shone a new light on homelessness and deprivation and how to help people caught in such circumstances. The project they have launched has opened the eyes of the public to realise the scale of homelessness and how to help people get through it.
“This has reached huge success, not only feeding Hitchin, but also Stevenage, and the other evening they even went all the way to King’s Cross!
“They definitely deserve this year’s award for all the people and communities they have touched.”
Shane’s second nomination – also in the Service to the Community category – was submitted by Debbie Wallis, who said: “Shane has set up from scratch a meeting place to house the homeless and those in need to a great service.
“He supplies a hairdresser and qualified podiatrist, and Citizens Advice are also on hand for advice. Shane works tirelessly and has helped a lot of individuals.
“He goes out on the streets of Stevenage and Hitchin to track down people who are too proud to go to the meet up. He takes out sleeping bags, blankets, food and other essentials. He has an array of fantastic volunteers and the public have donated all these supplies in abundance.
“Shane is compassionate and a well-worthy winner of an award.”
Shane told the Comet: “To be nominated means everything because it means people are taking notice of what I’m doing. I’m not doing it for awards, but it’s really nice to get recognition for it.
“The scheme is coming on leaps and bounds, we’re getting really busy with around 20 to 25 people through the door each week and we’re launching in Stevenage in a couple of weeks.”
To nominate someone for one of our 12 categories, visit cometcommunityawards.co.uk.
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