Builders halt their Christmas party to help homeless woman, 71, and pay for her to stay in a hotel

A group of builders out for their Christmas bash called a halt to the party when they decided to help an elderly homeless woman – by paying £145 for her to stay in a hotel.

Roger Hartigan, 43, and colleagues Joe Rich and David Harrison, were out in the centre of Bristol for their work do when they met the 71-year-old woman.

They stopped to speak to the lady, who would not give her name, and was sheltering from the cold with all her belongings in plastic carrier bags.

The men tried to hail a taxi to take her to a hotel but none would stop – so they split up and asked around to find a spare room.

Roger explained: “I saw this woman and she looked very fragile. She said she was 71 years old and had nowhere to go.

“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.

“Then one of the lads called to say they’d found a room in a hotel opposite the Hippodrome.

“We walked her there and checked her in.”

The hotel the woman was checked into is believed to the Radisson Blu in Broad Quay, overlooking Harbourside.

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She told the builders that she had been living on the streets of Bristol for 18 years.

Roger added: “She was just so vulnerable – there was no way I could leave her.

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