THEY are out on the streets tonight, doing what they can to help, maybe even as you read this paper.

While most of us are tucked up snugly indoors, immune from wrapped up against the winter weather, a group of volunteers are out braving the cold almost every night in order to help the homeless.

As temperatures across Hampshire plummet to below freezing, the New Help the Homeless in Southampton Group can be seen on the city’s streets every night from Tuesday to Saturday.

The group sets up shop outside Above Bar Church and hands out food and clothing to Southampton’s rough sleepers.

For the past two years, partners Lynn Matthews and Pete Marsh have given up huge amounts of their time to this cause, which includes providing breakfast and dinner on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day to people who have nowhere else to go.

For many of Southampton’s homeless the regular meal is a lifeline and without it some would not be able to survive.

Lynn, 54, from Millbrook, said: “We started two years ago, a couple of weeks before Christmas when we had a really bad winter and we decided to come out and see if anyone was around with a couple of flasks of hot drink and it was a real eye opener, so we decided to to carry on doing it.

“The people we help are absolutely overwhelmed and it is not only food that we hand out, it’s clothing and bedding and advice as well.

“We have lots of regulars and they are like a little family. We have our ups and downs, but the rough sleepers are the top priority.”

For Lynn, Pete and a team of volunteers the day starts early – at 6am they collect baked goods from The Coffee Corner, one of the companies that donates food to them.

Then it is back home to get the food, a selection of roles, sandwiches and sweet treats, ready for the night and then at 3pm they are off to The Food Factory to pick up hot food and prepare it for the meet up at 6pm.

After a few hours, once everyone has been fed, the team pack up, but the night is not over as they head home to clean the containers and prepare for the next day.

When the Daily Echo went down to see them in action, the temperature had dropped to almost freezing and showers drenched everyone.

At 6pm there was already a queue of people waiting, many of them roughs sleepers carrying their belongings with them. As the rain started to close in, the volunteers dispensed raincoats and continued to serve hot and cold food.

One man, who only wanted to be identified as Dave, said: “I have been homeless for just over a year. If it wasn’t for this I don’t think half the people here would be able to survive.

“It is one of the only meals I get a day and if I wasn’t here I would be walking around the streets, just trying to find something to eat.

“There needs to be more places like this, especially during this time of year.”

Simon McCarthy, 40, became homeless after his partner passed away and said: “This group is really good, they bring food out almost every day and we get clothes as well.

“But there are a lot of people in this town saying there are jobs, why don’t you get a job, you’re well enough.

“How can we do work when we are homeless? How can we get up in the morning and go to work when we have slept in the street and are freezing and feeling ill?”

As well as the almost constant threat of pneumonia, prejudice and abuse is something homeless people in Southampton have to deal with on a regular basis.

Lynn said: “People come out of night clubs and urinate on them in doorways, some have had their faces kicked, there was one guy who had his bedding set fire to when he was asleep with his dog.

“I know one guy who got badly beaten up – it is very sad.”

Pete, 50, from Millbrook said: “The problem is definitely getting worse, we started off with about nine homeless people, but it crept up to about 12 and now it is at least 35 homeless people in the city that we know of.

“Some come from abusive families or they have come from families where they don’t want the family to know where they are and sometimes there are just not enough jobs.”

But there are people who want to help, as since starting the project to help Southampton’s homeless, Lynn and Pete have seen almost 2,500 people join their group on Facebook, with many donating to them to help them provide the service.

In the future the group hopes to get enough money to buy a van, meaning they can transport more food and clothing to those who need it and eventually they would like to get a shop where homeless people can get out of the weather and receive something to eat.

But in the meantime the group will continue to help the homeless in anyway they can.

If you would like to support the New Help the Homeless in Southampton Group you can find them on Facebook or donate to their Just Giving page at crowdfunding.justgiving.com/ lynn-matthews.