James McClean has paid for four hotel rooms to put up homeless people in his hometown of Londonderry in the hope of sparking more interest in the growing problem.
The Republic of Ireland footballer has a track record for giving back to his local community, and his latest gesture has been to book four rooms along with his wife, Erin, at a city centre hotel.
Four people who were found sleeping rough on the streets accepted the Stoke City midfielder’s offer, which included paid-for meals and accommodation for four nights.
The 29-year-old contacted his father, Patrick, at the weekend about his desire to help the homeless, and the wheels were quickly put in motion for offers to be put out to those in need to help on the street.
“James text me on Sunday evening out of the blue and asked me to do him a favour,” Patrick McClean told BBC News NI.
“You never know with James what he will ask. He wanted to know about the homeless situation back in Derry and I told him there seemed to be a rise in the number of people you can see sleeping rough.
“James said ‘I have booked four rooms, can you go and gather whoever needs a bed for a few nights’.”
McClean has previous when it comes to helping those back home, having featured in a video with players from the Oxford Bulls team in the hope of securing them opposition for their first ever fixture.
After appearing alongside the children, who have Down’s Syndrome, the club were inundated with offers to play, with manager Kevin Morrison noting at the time that such had been the positive impact of McLean’s help that they had enough offers to play very week for two years.
