Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

21-year-old Nicole Sedgebeer raises £11,000 for homeless friend Mark after he looked out for her in Euston

Mark helped Ms Sedgebeer when she was stranded in London after a night out 

Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith
Tuesday 15 March 2016 08:35 EDT
Comments
Nicole Sedgebeer and Mark, the homeless man who helped her find safe shelter
Nicole Sedgebeer and Mark, the homeless man who helped her find safe shelter (Facebook)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A young woman who was helped by a homeless man when she was left stranded in London in the middle of the night has raised more than £11,000 by way of saying thank you.

Nicole Sedgebeer, 21, missed her last train home to Milton Keynes and travelled to Euston to wait until morning, only to find the station locked. Just as she was “about to burst into drunken tears” a homeless man named Mark helped her to find a safe place to shelter.

“Not only did he direct me to an all-night café and get me settled with a cup of coffee, he even came back at 5am to walk me safely back to the train station,” Ms Sedgebeer wrote on her Just Giving page.

Ms Sedgebeer originally shared her story on Facebook with a picture of herself and Mark – his first selfie – with the message, “I hope this story makes people look twice when they see a homeless person.” Her post has since been shared more than 19,000 times.

Four days later Ms Sedgebeer set up a crowdfunding page to raise £8,000 for Mark and the other homeless people around Euston, but after just days she managed to smash her target and has raised more than £11,000.

“Mark embodies the best of humanity. He went out of his way to help me, a complete stranger, when the reality of his situation is that people walk past him every day without offering him help,” she wrote on the Just Giving page.

“Mark you are one special man, I will never look down on a homeless person again and so want to do something to help Mark and all the other homeless people around Euston.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in