A Lancashire art student has raised £12,000 to help a homeless man who offered to help her in her hour of need.
Dominique Harrison-Bentzen was left stranded after losing her bank card on a night out on 4 December when a homeless man, known only as Robbie, offered to give her his last £3 for a taxi ride to make sure she got home safely.
The University of Central Lancashire student declined his offer, but was so touched by his selfless offer of generosity that she established a campaign to raise funds to help Robbie.
She initially hoped to raise £500 for a flat deposit for Robbie by getting friends and family to sponsor her sleeping rough on the streets for one night, but has since raised more than £20,000 after worldwide media attention.
The campaign has also gone viral on the internet with the Twitter hashtag #PrestonHomelessHero, with the fundraising site experiencing server issues because of the surge in traffic.
The student is now looking at ways to help other homeless people in the area with the additional funds, but told BBC Lancashire that “the priority is using £1,500 of it to hep Robbie”.
