Crucial water handed out to homeless

Street wardens in Birmingham city centre have been out distributing free bottles of water to the vulnerable homeless community in the last few days.

The wardens, who work in and around Birmingham's entertainment, office and canalside district of Westside, have been given access to large stocks of water to take out on their rounds.

Mike Olley, general manager at Westside BID, explained that while one of the wardens ' roles is to keep beggars and homeless people to a minimum in the area, they also took their caring responsibilities seriously.

Mr Olley said: “While the wardens gently but firmly try to move the homeless on, they also have a strong emphasis on the pastoral side, trying to give them options of where to go and how they can be helped.

“In this scorching weather, this caring approach is even more crucial as the homeless have no constant supply of fresh water to drink and can quickly become dehydrated.

“With that in mind, we 've invested in a huge stock of bottled water to make sure our wardens are able to help while at the same time guiding the homeless towards sheltered accommodation or other points of help."

Pictured: BID warden Kassim Sager gives out water