Mags Beach Café in Blackpool have been feeding the homeless of Blackpool with their own money and kind donations from the public. We reported that they have organised a peaceful protest against the council who have threatened to close the café because they were taking in the homeless population of Blackpool.

Blackpool’s Voice, a Facebook page hosted by activists in Blackpool, bringing locals together to create a voice, have hosted an interview with the café owners and staff this morning. (See in the video below)

Mags Beach Café owners have exclaimed that the police have been completely unreasonable, stating that they cannot continue to feed the homeless under their roof.

When asked how many homeless and unfortunate people they serve a day they told the interviewer “130 kids and families, and over 100 homeless everyday.”

Blackpool’s voice receive the homeless and donate clothing, later sending them up to Mags Beach Café for food.

One of the disgruntled café worker, Leah Alice Parkes stated that “They pay for a mermaid statue that nobody needs but they wont let us have the homeless in to feed them and the kids.”

The Blackpool’s Voice interviewer stated: “A few weeks back, we had one [homeless] guy who was missing we hadn’t seen him for a couple of weeks. We went to the police and told them about him being homeless and missing. They said they couldn’t do anything about it because he didn’t have an address he was missing from. It’s still someone’s son, uncle, brother! […] It’s completely unacceptable.”

The cafe had worked hard to create a free service for the homeless on the streets of Blackpool, whilst treating them in a humane way, unlike Blackpool Council and the Police. Leah stated: “The reason why they love being with us because we treat them like human beings. If the police treated them like human beings we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

The distressed interviewer proposed that Blackpool Council must give the public and the charitable givers an answer as to what they intend to do with the homeless if they can’t sleep on the streets of Blackpool or eat in the cafe’s. “They don’t want them sitting on the benches in town because the homeless have told us they have been pushed off and told to move by the council. Then they were told they couldn’t sit on the pavement.

She continued, “The homeless are homeless for a reason, where are we gonna put them? Are they going to put some funding toward to help them?

“At the end of the day, if you don’t want them in a café, tell us what you do want to do, and what you’re gonna do to fund what you’re wanting – put your money where your mouth is!”

“How much [money] has the council had and how much has gone to the residents of Blackpool.”

The owner of the cafe stated that they are a family run restaurant who have worked together to help the less fortunate. They have received no funds from the council and have not asked for this, they have fed the homeless out of their own pockets and the donations they have received from other locals.  She declared, “We’re not even asking them funding, it’s coming out of our own pocket and donations from the public.”