A mum enlisted the help of her sons to place cushions over spikes erected to deter homeless people resting outside a building in a city centre.
A photo of Jennie Platt, from Manchester, laying the cushions with her two sons, George, 11, and Sam, 10, and some of their friends from their rugby team was shared on the Facebook page ‘Helping Manchester and Bury Homeless’.
“There are too many people in this country who see the homeless as an invisible problem,” Suzanne Angle, founder of the Facebook group, which support the homeless in Manchester, told The Huffington Post UK.
“I find it very heartwarming to see parents getting young children actively involved with homeless issues.”
“These kids did an amazing job fighting against these rich corporations,” Angle continued.
“We are all one step away from being homeless ourselves. It’s important the next generations are educated to care and want to make a difference.”
Jennie Platt had felt frustrated when she saw the spikes had been installed in a sheltered area around the edge of a building in Manchester city centre.
So she and the boys headed to Primark to buy cushions to make the area a comfy place to rest.
They also bought a selection of sandwiches and chocolate bars and left them on the cushions.
Another member of the Facebook group also shared a photo of a cardboard sign the kids made, which read: “Take a seat and have a bite to eat”.
“Well done lads, this is so thoughtful,” one person commented on the photo.
Another wrote: “Well done lads and parents - great to see the juniors supporting our homeless.”
Speaking about the incident, Platt told BBC News: “This is not the Mancunian thing, it’s not how we treat people. The building owners are treating human beings like pigeons.”
She said the cushions may not last and will get wet, but she wanted to make a stand against the people who erected the spikes to show that it was wrong.
Pall Mall Medical, the company that reportedly rents the building, said they were not involved with the decision to erect the spikes.
“We would like clients, employees and the public to know that we had NO involvement in the decision to install ‘spikes’,” the company tweeted.
“We were not aware this was being planned. Pall Mall Medical is not in occupation of the unit next to where the spikes were attached. Whilst part of our branding remains, our clinic has fully expanded into the 61-67 King Street unit.”
Update: The “anti-homeless” spikes put in place have been removed. Manchester council’s city centre spokesman Pat Kearney told Metro: “I am pleased that the spikes have been removed. This is not the image of Manchester we want to project.”