Fifty shades of fray in Stoke Newington as residents donate coats to those in need

Mustafa Tecimer. Photograph: Coralie Datta

Kind-hearted souls have been dropping off their unwanted winter coats at Stoke Newington Library for homeless people – or indeed anyone in need of a warm garment – to help themselves to.

Rachel Murrell, a Stoke Newington resident, said the library had agreed to keep the scheme going for “at least a couple of weeks”.

“Coatrail is go!” she declared in an email about the scheme. It is now fully buttoned up and more than a dozen second hand coats have already flown off the hangers, she confirmed.

The Hackney Citizen understands they ranged from puffer jackets to trench and duffel coats.

Mustafa Tecimer, who owns Five Star Dry Cleaners on Church Street, has donated numerous coats which were dropped off and dry cleaned at his shop but whose owners had never returned to collect them.

CoatRail: A coat rail in situ at the library

He said: “Rachel does good things all the time, so as soon as she mentioned this I thought, yes, it’s good.”

His shop, located opposite the library, normally offloads to charity coats which have gone a year and a half or two years without being collected.

There is zero bureaucracy involved in the scheme, which has been given the unofficial name of “CoatRail” – somewhat conjuring to mind a train operating company.

People who want coats do not need to be means tested or recognised as fitting the statutory definition of a homeless person to pick one up.

The initiative was Murrell’s brainchild but has been given a stamp of approval from the Town Hall’s homelessness czar Councillor Rebecca Rennison, who said there had been a “fantastic response” to it thus far.

Some might say she has been keen to ride on its coattails…