Take a few young people with a vision to make a difference on the streets of Belfast; take a few flasks of soup and hot drinks - and plenty of warm layers to combat some of the coldest nights of the year. This is a project known as Beautiful Feet.

It started out as an idea among a group of friends seven years ago - but now dozens of young people are on board, getting out there on the streets of Belfast each week to hang out with those living rough.

It’s Monday night, darkness has set in and the city is starting to wind down; the streets are clearing of shoppers and people heading home from work.  And that’s when the Beautiful Feet guys start to gather.  They meet at a church just off Royal Avenue to prepare their bags of food and flasks, and to pray before heading out…

As they begin their journey around Belfast’s network of streets, group co-ordinator Graham Robinson explains the purpose behind what they do: “If there are people who are homeless we help them out, maybe try to get them into a hostel, or get them food and a hot drink or just have a simple conversation with them.  We’re just trying to show a bit of love to Belfast.”

On the night I joined them one of the first people they meet is a homeless man who’s taking refuge in a city centre cafe and staff there are clearly keen to move him on.  The group get him a hot drink, encourage him to leave the restaurant and spend some time with him.

One of the volunteers Natalie Robinson explains why they were so keen to help this man: “He’s just lost his fiance and has got tangled up in the craziness and doesn’t know what to do, so he’s drinking alot.  But he’s a big amazing guy.  It’s just crazy to see someone who’s a big Belfast man, a big daddy out there… cos who knows, he could be someone’s daddy and he’s certainly someone’s son.”

The latest Housing Executive figures reveal around 800 people in Belfast were found to be homeless between April last year and January this year.  But it’s the stories behind these figures that inspires the Beautiful Feet group to do what they do, as Graham explains:  “What you realise when you get out here is how much every person you meet is an individual and they have such incredible stories.  They’re really not that different to you and me.

“When you talk to them you realise they had a job or their family broke down or a complex series of things that if that had happened to you or me might end up with you or me being on the streets.”

Beautiful Feet are just one of a number of informal groups working to help those who find themselves homeless and it’s their vision that the streets need not be anyone’s home.  And so the group are passionate about continuing to be people, whose feet stop, as Natalie explains:

“When you see homeless people it’s pretty shocking so I just sat down beside them one day.  It was crazy how low you felt just sitting there, watching everyone’s feet pass you by.”