The world’s first free vending machine for the homeless supplying food, clothing and toiletries has been installed in Nottingham.
Created by the charity Action Hunger, the machine in the Broadmarsh Centre gives items to anyone with a card issued by local homeless support groups.
Organisers hope the machine will become the first in a local, national and worldwide chain.
The Nottingham homeless man who was first to use it on Tuesday, who only wanted to be named as Lee, said: “I think it’s a brilliant machine and a brilliant idea. If you’ve got no money in the middle of the night, and you need something to eat or drink, or just dry socks, you can get it.”
Workers from Action Hunger collect food from supermarkets, charities, and local shops with excess produce and buy personal items such as socks and sanitary towels.
Volunteers then re-stock the machine daily, and those in need use the machine with a special key card.
The cards are programmed to permit up to three items per day.
Dr John Doddy, a trustee of Action Hunger, said: “I think it will become iconic and the thing that makes people recognise that homeless people have been brought into the public eye and it will remind people that we can’t ignore them and we can’t sweep them away.
“It’s helping them to live safely, cleanly and humanely on the street.”
Homelessness has soared in the UK according to the charity Shelter, with around 307,000 people now homeless in the UK.
A recent report by the charity claims the number of homeless had risen by 13,000 in the last year.
In Nottingham, dozens are currently sleeping rough every night, despite the work of several local charities and the city council.
Sam Crawford, chief executive of support charity the Friary said a regular count of rough sleepers in Nottingham carried out by support groups is currently finding around 50 people on the street every night.
