A Swansea bar owner who is running a scheme to help the homeless has gone above and beyond to help get one man back on his feet, allowing him to stay at his studio apartment whilst he finds work, in return for doing some odd jobs around the house.
Lee West, owner of Copr Bar in Castle Street in Swansea, and a former 17-year serving Royal Marine, has earned a great reputation for doing his bit to help those in need. And this time, he has gone one step further to make a difference after meeting a homeless man, named only as Dave.
Dave has been offered council support, but finding a deposit and month's rent up front has proven impossible given his circumstances. Mr West decided to offer his self-contained apartment, located at the back of his house and which is currently vacant, waiving the upfront cost, in return for him completing work in the house. He is now inside with a ‘home’, and has applied for universal credit, but is very proactive and wants to work.
Mr West explained: "A young lad called Dave had just become homeless unexpectedly through a change in personal circumstances. I've got a self contained apartment at the back of my house which was previously let out which is now empty, as luck would have it. I told him I'd wave the deposit and upfront payment, we'd get him in there, get a tenancy agreement, and in return he will do a few jobs in there which are needed which he's more than happy with. He's got a roof over his head and base himself whil he goes out and gets support and hopefully back into employment. He's very appreciative, of course."
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Mr West met Dave through his current scheme being run at the bar called Pay It Forward. It sees customers donate £5 which is then used to pay for a food item for the homeless, which Mr West himself then goes around and delivers, or hosts an afternoon at the bar to allow them to get it themselves.
Mr West said: "We did it just before Covid firstly, where people could pay for an item at the bar, and then we'll give that to a homeless person. For every £5, we can turn that into a coffee or a hot dog or a pizza, some sort of hot snack and then I'll walk around town and find those who need it, or, like on Boxing Day, we'll do an event at Copr where people can come directly here. It's been really well supported. It's all to support those who are homeless or in destitute situations. It's a big homeless community in Swansea. For the day I had people in, there was around 40 of them here on Boxing Day.
"I like doing it. I was in the Marines for 17 years and was always on the go and that involved humanitarian stuff, working in the community and helping the community, so that's always been a constant throughout my career. I can't sit down to be honest, it's good for me to have a project as well. As much as it's helping other people, it's good for me."
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