Jordan, 16, is inspired to help homeless

Jordan Turner, 16, was supporting a friend who was competing in a BBC Sport Relief rowing event on King’s Mill Reservoir in March when he came across a homeless man.

He was so stunned by what he saw that he launched a personal crusade using Facebook to get people to donate food, clothes, blankets and other items - including a bike.

“When I saw the man underneath a bridge next to the ‘res’ I asked if he was OK and I could see he was in a bad way,” said Jordan.

“You could see he had nowhere to live, so I decided to raise money for him and get him some food. He only had one set of clothes.

“I later saw footage of the homeless on YouTube and decided I should help again and that’s when I asked people on Facebook to donate things, which I took down for him.

“I have never seen someone so keen to eat - he was starving - and he was so thankful.

“I believe that everyone deserves some help no matter what their situation and I’m now looking to help out at a homeless centre locally.”

Jordan recently left Sutton Community Academy and is set to start a place at West Notts College in engineering.

His former tutor at Sutton Community Academy, Alice Santo, said Jordan was a ‘brilliant example’ to others.

She added: “Jordan has always been very generous and kind, doing a bike ride for Leukaemia Research, so it doesn’t surprise me that he is looking to carry on helping people.

“He’s very much aware that there are people in the area who have difficulties and we at the school are proud of the way he has been so proactive in helping them.”