Builders Halt Their Christmas Party for a 71-year-old Homeless Woman

Builders Halt Their Christmas Party for a 71-year-old Homeless Woman
Roger Hartigan and his colleagues felt they couldn't leave the vunerable homeless woman out on the streets. (Photo courtesy of Roger Hartigan)
Jane Werrell
12/20/2017
Updated:
12/20/2017

Three builders decided to pay for an elderly homeless woman to stay in a hotel for a night after bumping into her during their work Christmas party.

Workmates Roger Hartigan, Joe Rich, and David Harrison spotted the woman while on a night out in the southwestern city of Bristol, UK.

They noticed the woman only had carrier bags with her belongings inside to shelter her from the cold.

“She was just so vulnerable—there was no way I could leave her,” Roger Hartigan told the Bristol Post.

“I think she was a bit shocked at what was happening when I said we’d find her a hotel, but I reassured her we weren’t taking the mick—we just wanted to make sure she was safe,” he said.

Roger Hartigan with the homeless woman, who didn't give her name, on Friday Dec. 15 in Bristol. (Photo courtesy of Roger Hartigan)
Roger Hartigan with the homeless woman, who didn't give her name, on Friday Dec. 15 in Bristol. (Photo courtesy of Roger Hartigan)

Hartigan said that the woman, who was sitting on some steps on Baldwin Street, went unnoticed by many passers-by.

The old lady told them that she had been sleeping rough on the streets of Bristol for 18 years.

“We were out on our Christmas do but once we saw her she became our priority,” said Hartigan.

He explained to the newspaper that they saw her at about 9 p.m. after leaving a pub.

“I saw this woman and she looked very fragile.

“We gave her some money and some cigarettes and we tried to hire her a taxi to take her to a hotel—but none would stop.

“So some of the guys ran ahead to find a hotel with a spare room and I walked with her through the centre of town, carrying her stuff,” he said.

They eventually checked the lady into a hotel opposite the Hippodrome.

The three builders helped the elderly woman check in to a hotel in Bristol. (Photo courtesy of Roger Hartigan)
The three builders helped the elderly woman check in to a hotel in Bristol. (Photo courtesy of Roger Hartigan)
In a Facebook post, Hartigan wrote, “In town with the lads and we came across this old lady who is 71, she had no money and no where to sleep, so after 18yrs we just chipped in for her fags etc and paid for a taxi and a nice hotel for the night x”

After helping the woman find a place to sleep, the kindhearted trio continued with their Christmas night out.