Liverpool TV and stage actor Andrew Lancel backs ‘pay it forward campaign’ launched by local homeless charity Paper Cup Project for this Christmas. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool homeless charity Paper Cup Project (PCP) has launched its annual appeal to support homeless people in the city during the Christmas period.
PCP, founded by Michelle Langan, operates a coffee shop – Paper Cup Coffee – in Queen Square in Liverpool city centre where it raises funds for the charity and offers work opportunities to homeless people.
This year it has launched its ‘pay it forward campaign’. For a £3 donation, coffee shop customers can hang a bauble on the Christmas tree.
Each bauble represents the cost of a hot drink for one of the coffee shop’s homeless customers. The charity hopes to fill the tree across December.
And the campaign has won the backing of Liverpool TV and stage actor Andrew Lancel who is urging people to give a helping hand to homeless people during the festive season.
He is best known to TV viewers for his roles in Coronation Street and The Bill, and his theatre work in plays such as Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles and The Damned United.
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Andrew said: “I’m a proud patron of Paper Cup Project, and we are asking people if they are able to, to support the Christmas campaign, and see if we can fill the tree for Christmas.
“A hot drink is something that might seem small to us all, but for someone who is homeless, it not only warms them up on a cold morning, it also shows that people care.”
Paper Cup Coffee can be found on Queen Square in Liverpool city centre, and the pay it forward tree will be in the shop through December.