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Star's favourite space is close to home

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date22 December 2020
Date22 December 2020
Publication titleEvening Chronicle
It is now the home of the North East Homeless (NEH) charity originally started by Brian Burridge around six years ago for which Sunderland-born George, as well as Viz founder Simon Donald, are patrons.

The vital facility which helps around a thousand people a year houses a 'social supermarket' which distributes food to the needy as well as a cafe with all the cash generated going straight back into the charity.

It also provides a safe space for people while the charity conducts outreach nights across the North East three nights a week giving out warm food and drinks as well as advice on finding accommodation.

However for a place supposed to provide a bit of respite for people living on the streets, as well as a starting point for volunteers before they made their way out to offer help, it had one problem. George explained: "It was bloody freezing - the irony of that."

Brian added: "It was colder inside here than it was outside." That has now changed. To make it more comfortable NEH contacted companies across the UK to help provide heating. George is also the public face of Mitsubishi Electric's Ecodan renewable heating and after a little persuasion it gifted the charity two brandnew air source heat pumps and a number of radiators worth £15,000.

The installation of the heating system would also have cost another £15,000, however Newcastle-based Engenera Renewables Group, an approved Ecodan installer, stepped in and did it for free.

George said: "I'm chuffed to bits. Brian is chuffed to bits - we couldn't be more grateful. There is no point doing the work we do on streets if we haven't got a hub like this."

It was in 2014 that Brian decided to set up a Facebook group called North East Homeless after coming across a homeless man on...

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