Mixed views on extra cash to help Leeds and Bradford homeless

While Green gives his views, a woman and her younger sister come up and take out a warm meal in a foil takeaway container from a yellow bag and hand it over along with a spoon.

Kadin Lawford, 22, from Idle, says she recently decided she was going to make about 20 meals and give them out to people living on the streets of her home city.

“The other day it started because I thought, it’s freezing, people are freezing.

“I thought it’s no skin off my back if I go give them a hot meal.

“We’re quite lucky and people don’t understand how fortunate we are.”

The West Yorkshire’s mayor’s announcement came after the government said it was doubling its funding in support of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s promise to give every rough sleeper in England a route off the streets by Christmas.

Lawford, a children’s care worker, says she was initially unaware of the new funding, but her mum knew about Burnham’s pledge to ending rough sleeping.

She says: “When I told my mum what we were going to do, she was like, ‘oh, he [Burnham] is trying to get people inside over Christmas’.

“I didn’t know about it, but I think it’s brilliant.”