COLLECTIONS will be taken in churches throughout Malvern on Homeless Sunday (January 28) to help pay for a new food voucher scheme.

The aim is to have the scheme up and running by March, providing homeless people with £5 vouchers.

Andy Lyle, from the charity Lyttelton Well, launched an appeal last year and has so far collected about £700.

"We're very pleased, it's more than I had hoped for. Hopefully, we'll be able to draw the appeal to a close at the end of the month."

Mr Lyle said he was particularly keen to raise awareness about the hidden homeless.

"Those that sleep in wheelie bins or on park benches - we've presently got two 60-year-olds sleeping on park benches in Malvern," he said.

"There are so many reasons why people are homeless - marriage break-downs, substance misuse, mental health. In some ways it's easier for people to opt out because they are moving themselves out of a volatile situation.

"To cope with the cold people ask for sleeping bags or blankets, and alcohol or a swift snort takes the pain away until the next morning when they have to face the day."

Pat Milne, of the Malvern Hills Homeless Young Adults Trust, said they had given a home to several young people living on the streets.

"We've got one young lad here who has a horrendous family background. He was abandoned as a child, got into drugs and lived on the streets. "I asked him what the worst thing was about being homeless and he said he just felt so vulnerable. He would spend his days walking around the alleyways and canals because he didn't want people to see the state he'd got into.

"We shouldn't judge these kids. We should ask how they got there and look at ways of preventing it."