Six-year-old girl in Croydon feeds the homeless with her pocket money

Naomi has raised more than £1,500 for her school and is supplying meals to 22 homeless people

Author: Danielle SaundersPublished 26th Feb 2022

Naomi Townsend, a six-year-old in Croydon, has used her pocket money to provide meals for 22 homeless people today and raised more than £1,500 for her school.

Today, 26th February, Naomi will distribute the meals with her mum and dad, along with sleeping bags, bedding, toiletries, and other essentials provided by Percy's Food Hub.

She used her pocket money to buy the ingredients to bake a cake and cook her favourite pasta meal with the help of her family.

Her fundraising idea was inspired to help those sleeping on the streets after working as a volunteer with the Percy’s Homeless Hub charity last Christmas.

Naomi tells us, “It makes me sad when I see homeless people sleeping on the streets, and everybody should have a meal."

School fundraising

Regina Coeli Catholic Primary School’s Parents and Friends Association challenged children at the school to raise £22.22 each by the 22nd February, as part of the school’s fundraising.

The school suggested sponsored silences, swims, bike rides or walks, but Naomi described these ideas as “boring” and wanted to do something different.

With a desire to raise money for the school while helping to feed the homeless, she decided to put the two together and created 'Project 22'.

"I created 'Project 22' to do something positive as I raise money for my school", she says.

She has set up a GoFundMe page to sponsor and help her raise money for her school as she helps to feed the homeless.

Within 24 hours she raised more than £600 and the community continues to support her.

Regina Coeli Primary School’s Head Teacher tells us, “Fundraising in our school is very important and throughout the year the children raise money for various charities.

“The children have been very imaginative in this new project run by our PAF association and we are so very proud of how Naomi has widened the scope of her fundraising to help our local community”.

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