Locals hang coats on Dublin bridge for needy homeless
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Locals hang coats on Dublin bridge for needy homeless

DUBLINERS have been asked to hang their unwanted winter coats on Ha'penny Bridge for the homeless to help themselves to.

Signs along the walkway say: "If you need one, please take one. If you want to help, please hang one up."

Photographs have emerged online of dozens of coats and jackets - of all shapes and sizes - hung to the railing of the bridge in the city centre.

Also pictured was a plastic box filled with wooly hats, gloves and scarves.

The initiative is driven by a Facebook page called Warm for Winter, who aim to help the homeless during the cold winter months.

Their aim is to hang clothing up in suitable dry places around Irish towns and cities, in locations where they know people in need frequently walk by.

News of the move emerged on the same day hundreds of people lined the streets of the Irish capital to protest the nations' growing homelessness crisis.

Patrick Fryers, who started the Warm For Winter campaign, says he hopes it'll spread to other locations.

"Even if it's only one coat, bring it to anywhere you think someone might need it and hang it up", he said.

Patrick will continue to collect coats and hang them on the Ha'penny Bridge and is encouraging people in other areas to do the same.

"Imagine everyone else doing the same thing, it's not a big task", he said.

Patrick added that he decided not to cover the coats in plastic - to prevent them getting wet in the event of rain - over fears it could blow into the Liffey.

What a lovely idea!

If you're in the city and think can find a couple of jackets at the bar of the wardrobe that you haven't touched in six years, why not stroll down there?

To learn more about the initiative, click here.