A FAMILY from Hilperton have been busy pedalling in the run up to Christmas to help homeless people in Bath and West Wiltshire.

The Mitchell family - dad Dean, mum Hayley, and their two children Indigo, 11, and Torin, 6 – have raised more than £580 for the homeless charity Julian House.

They pedalled 500 kilometres between them over a 12 day period from December 1-12 and have raised £578 plus gift aid with more donations coming in.

Hayley said: “I can understand people saying ‘why as a family would you decide to cycle 500km in 12 days running up to Christmas?

“Good question and the answer is simple. My daughter put on her Christmas list: GIVE MONEY TO THE HOMELESS.

“This all came about after a visit to the fireworks display in Bath, where we met a young woman who was homeless.

“We don’t need to know her story to know that she needs a safe, warm place to sleep. I couldn’t answer my daughter’s questions of ‘Why?’ or her indignant cries of ‘But it’s not fair’.

“As a family, however, we can try and do something to help raise money for one of the charities that work towards making it fair, so we chose Julian House.”

Cathy Adcock, Fundraising Manager at Julian House in Bath, said: “Homelessness is a big challenge all year round but it certainly becomes even more dangerous for rough sleepers during the cold winter months.

“As a result of this, Julian House have just set up an additional 10 camp beds, on top of the existing 30 beds, in our very small and cramped hostel in order to prevent winter deaths of rough sleepers.

“Our joint assertive Outreach Team are working hard to build trust with rough sleepers, which is central to successful resettlement.

“Knowing that a family are doing so much, which is out of their comfort zone, to help rough sleepers shows that there is still so much compassion within the community. Sadly, very often the people that Julian House supports don’t get to see that.”

If you would like to support the Mitchell family’s fundraising campaign, please visit

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hayley-mitchell9

To find out more about Julian House go to www.julianhouse.org.uk