A BIG-hearted fundraiser hoping to make rough sleepers more comfortable throughout the cold winter months is putting together care packages.

Ester Lipscombe, 35, of Fowler Road, Colchester, said she could no longer walk past the people she sees living on the streets of Colchester without taking action.

Now she is appealing for donations to fund care packages containing warm clothing, bedding, food and supplies.

She said: “You can get so much for £10 if you spend it carefully.

“I have lived in Colchester for a while now and whenever I am in town I always see people on the street.

“In the past I might have popped into Greggs and bought them a sausage roll, but I just feel more could be done, especially at this time of year.

”It is so cold outside at the moment.

“Some of the guys I have spoken to have been so cold they can barely move - some of them are getting ill.

“If I am ill all I want is to snuggle up in my warm bed, the homeless don’t have anywhere to go, they don’t even have a toilet. It breaks my heart.”

“Even if people donate a little, it could go a long way to getting some very basic supplies this winter.”

Ester, of Fowler Road, Colchester, has lived in the town for five years, and says she has noticed an increase in the amount of people sleeping rough.

“There just seems to be so many now, you’ll see people living on the streets whenever you go into town,” she added.

Colchester Council sets aside £90,000 in grant funding for groups who support the homeless.

Government funding of £240,000 has been awarded to Colchester and Tendring councils to increase support for rough sleepers over the next two years.

Tina Bourne, councillor responsible for housing, said: “Homelessness is a complex social problem with underlying economic and social factors such as poverty, lack of affordable housing, uncertain physical and mental health, addictions and family breakdown.

“But it is a situation we see being exacerbated by the impact of national welfare benefits changes, the increasing use of benefits sanctions and changes to local housing allowance rates, and the effect of the shared accommodation rate paid to single people under 35.

“With the right support at the right time, we know we can end people’s homelessness – or it can be prevented from happening in the first place – which is why we remain focused on working closely with other organisations.”

To donate towards Ester’s care packages, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/colchestershomeless