Business leader joins charity helping the homeless

Mr Andrews, chairman of Birmingham signs specialists Hollywood Monster and one of the founders of the LoveBrum charity, has been appointed as a trustee of Reconnected, a Birmingham-based charity that supports homeless people through its residential hub in the city centre.

Shane Bland, director of Centrick and Virtu Property, said Mr Andrews's charity experience and business connections would be invaluable as the charity attempts to help even more people who may be suffering due to the cost of living crisis.

Reconnected was established by Centrick in December 2013 and has supported more than 275 homeless people. Seven years ago it set up its City Hub in Birmingham where it provides rooms with double beds and en suite facilities with dedicated housing and reintegration support officers. Supporters include FareShare, Tesco, Asda, and Nandos.

Mr Bland said: “When the pandemic hit we decided that we needed to do more to help more people. We have been kicked into action and we are looking at expanding our services to multiple locations, starting with another hub in the West Midlands.

“We were keen to get Tim involved because he has enormous experience, through his own charity, LoveBrum, and he has fantastic contacts across the business community. I’m sure he will be a great asset as we seek to reach out and help more people in this time of crisis.

“He’s an incredibly busy man so having his support shows just how worthwhile our charity is and that he really believes in what we are trying to achieve.”

Mr Andrews said: “I wanted to get involved simply because I was blown away by how the charity is changing people’s lives.

"I started LoveBrum to shine a light on small volunteer-led organisations that are doing great things. Reconnected is one of those. The numbers speak for themselves and I believe I can make a huge difference to their fundraising potential, which will facilitate the service being provided to even more people who are in crisis in our city.”