Organisers of our Christmas appeal are already overwhelmed by the generosity of local people in supporting the homeless - and there's a week still to go.

The Kent Messenger is running its annual festive campaign, You Can Help, with Maidstone Homeless Care, which runs the Maidstone Day Centre in Knightrider Street.

The centre has some 35 people coming in for a hot meal and a packed tea a day at the moment, with huge demand for emergency food parcels too from families and people facing urgent financial crises.

Trustee Mike FitzGerald’s car suspension has been tested to the limit as he collects car-loads of donations from local schools. The Kent Messenger’s staff also delivered a bumper amount to the day centre by hand on Friday. It had been dropped off by readers at our offices in Middle Row.

Collections were made at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls in Buckland Road, and at St Simon Stock School in Oakwood Park, pupils stacked milk cartons, after organisers said milk was one of the items they were particularly in need of.

Fellow trustee Angela Clay said: “We are very busy. There are so many people in need. With these cold nights, if you are homeless, even with a good sleeping bag, the cold gets you. We are dealing with it but it is a shame we have to.”

The centre also held a Christmas dinner for its regulars on Tuesday, which was donated by the Hengist restaurant in Aylesford High Street.

Those who use the centre are grateful for the support. Steven Gilbert, 50, who visited for some years while he was homeless, has just found private rented accommodation.

He said: “A place like this is essential. It is a basic need. I have just got a place now, but I still pop in here every now and then to see everyone.”

Jess Buckley, 21, said: “I absolutely love this place. We all help each other and it helps everyone.”

You can still donate to the cause. You can drop off food, particularly non-perishable items, which are in date, plus warm clothing at collection points, including the Kent Messenger’s office at 6 & 7 Middle Row, Maidstone; All Saints’ Church in Loose; Coxheath Surgery in Stockett Lane, Coxheath; Iceland in the Chequers Centre; Morrisons in both Sutton Road and Larkfield; Maidstone Community Support Centre in Marsham Street; Outset at Maidstone Studios; St Luke’s Church in Maidstone; St Peter’s Church in Boughton Monchelsea; Tesco Express in Hermitage Lane and in Tovil.