PLUGGING POVERTY GAP

Charity is there for people who are at rock bottom with nowhere else to go

- JAMIE BRASSINGTON News Reporter

A TEEN mum in an empty flat with just a duvet and pillow and a man forced to sleep in his car in Morrisons car park are just two stories of shocking hardship encountered by a Midland charity recently.

The Salvation Army is there to plug the gaps of society - but its leaders are concerned that more and more people are needing help, putting the Christian charity under strain.

Lee Highton-Nicholls, core officer based at The Salvation Army's Willenhall church, said: "I have been here coming up to four years and what I am finding is the level of need from people coming in is certainly growing.

"We are seeing more people coming through the doors for all sorts of different help."

Lee recalls the story of the teenager, packed into a taxi and driven 130 miles from London to Wolverhampton with her newborn baby, a pushchair and a suitcase of clothes to her name.

In another case, a man was forced to sleep in his car for seven weeks, parked up in a Morrisons car park and relying on handouts of tinned food.

A mum forced to rent out her spare bedroom to make ends meet - meaning her child had to sleep on the sofa and a man regularly beaten up by drug dealers are more cases The Salvation Army has been able to help.