More than £14,000 has been raised by volunteers, staff and the community for a local homeless charity.

KentOnline have supported Maidstone Homeless Care's "You Can Help" campaign for its 21st annual Christmas drive.

Throughout December, the charity have been collecting vital donations to support vulnerable men and women in the local area.

Homeless Care own a day centre in Knightrider Street, a food bank and a HMO called Goodsell House – which helps get the homeless off the street and into permanent accommodation.

They were appealing for contributions of food and essential items, including pot noodles, tinned fruit, microwave rice, as well as clothes and toiletries.

This year, the charity also asked for money so it can buy nutritious, fresh food at a heavily-discounted price from FareShare.

Assistant manager, Tracy Maybank, spoke to KentOnline about how important the the day centre is for the homeless.

Herself and her colleagues work with their clients on an appointment basis, seeing around 10 each day, which allows them to do more one to one work.

"There's a stigma surrounding homelessness, usually people thinking ‘get a job’," she explained. "But they don’t know their story.

"Each person has a reason for being homeless.

"The longer they are out on the street, the more their mental health dips.

"They can come in here, have a shower, eat, use the computers and phones. We also have laundry."

Since the pandemic, the charity has revealed the need for food parcels has more than tripled – with requests reaching over 300 a month.

Tracy added: "We have families who are looking at ‘do we go without food, do we put the electric on or do we pay the rent?’.

"It’s harsh and I think that it's just going to get worse.

"Anything that anyone donates here gets used and goes a long way.

"We have an elderly lady who comes up every so often, and she will bring a packet of biscuits, maybe a tin of beans or a bar of soap.

"She has done that for years.

"Hearing that knock at the door, is just magic to me – she’s very fragile, but she is still thinking about the homeless. That melts my heart."

Students and staff at schools throughout the festive period worked together to collect food for the cause.

Cornwallis Academy donated tins and sent over £300 and Oakwood Park Grammar collected a staggering 1,200 items.

St Simon Stock and Maidstone Grammar School also supported the campaign.

Across the borough local companies and businesses donated too.

Housing association, Golding Homes, contributed ten £20 Dine Out vouchers for a festive raffle, new kitchenware for Goodsell House and Christmas treats for the food bank.

Oliver Wellbeing, an Osteopath along Knightrider Street, worked with their clients and Maidstone Outdoor Fitness to collect a car-load of donations.

The charity also received a number of food parcels festively wrapped by banking services provider, Kent Reliance.

At the end of November, teenager Callum Dunne transformed his home and front garden in Queen Elizabeth Road into a festive lights display.

For the third year running, the 16-year-old has made an effort and raised hundreds of pounds for the charity.

He held a Christmas switch-on with his neighbours, which saw the outside of the house lit up in green, red and blue.

Cash donations for the campaign came to £14,044 – all of which will go towards the charity's annual running costs.

Chairman Des Long commented: "Maidstone Homeless Care has the proud legacy of supporting local homeless people since 1986.

"The present financial challenges we all face are clearly going to result in many more vulnerable people becoming rough sleepers in future months and throughout this year.

"We can see from our own day centre and food bank provision that the demand for support is increasing week by week."

He added: "We work in close partnership with other charities and agencies supporting homeless people and help those to move on to permanent housing wherever possible.

"We can say with total confidence that any financial donation made to Maidstone Homeless Care is providing direct support to local homeless people."