A Rochdale dad is on a mission to help the area’s homeless and is using an unexpected item to do so – a pram.
For five years, Muhammad Aziz, 47, has been using a baby’s pushchair to supply food, clothing and essential items to those that need it most across Rochdale and central Manchester.
Muhammad, who is a full-time care worker, spends up to 30 hours per week collecting donations and carrying his buggy to various locations where he says the town’s homeless can be found.
“This started during the Covid pandemic,” Muhammad said. “Things were particularly bad for the homeless then. I saw a lot of homeless people were struggling, as charities were closed to them.
“So, I initially started taking an ASDA trolley around, giving food to people. When the trolley became too heavy and inconvenient for me to take on buses, I started taking food around on a pram.”
Muhammad now carries everything from sleeping bags, clothes, shoes, socks, gloves and scarves with him, and has several volunteers that help him push the pram, as well as collect donated food items that are distributed to the homeless.
Janice Illingworth, one of Muhammad’s volunteers, said: “Muhammad goes way and beyond to help the homeless.”
“I remember Muhammad came round to my partner’s shop with a pushchair, and loaded it up until it was overflowing.
“It was comical to look at as he is not a big man, and he had overfilled the pushchair. He struggled but was determined, Rochdale town centre is not flat!
“I see him out often in Yorkshire Street handing out sandwiches and drinks to the homeless, always smiling, always helpful. He is one in a million.”
But is not only in Rochdale that Muhammad’s unusual methods have now been recognised.
His pram-strategy has attracted significant attention online, with his TikTok account ‘Help 4 Homeless’ amassing more than 7,000 followers.
Muhammad’s TikTok videos include shots of him dancing cheerfully with his pram, and clips of the food donations he gathers to hand out across town.
“The purpose of the TikTok page is to increase awareness about the homeless,” Muhammad added. “As social media is very powerful, and I can share my videos to a wide audience.
“My TikTok page has helped my cause, and people have been very helpful because of it.”
However, despite Muhammad’s light-hearted videos and wacky pushchair, he recognises the homeless problem in Greater Manchester to be a ‘massive issue’.
“In a town like Rochdale, there is lots of deprivation, leading to homelessness,” he said. “And things get particularly bad in winter.
“You see people sleeping in the park, or outside the shops, and train stations. Winter is a killer, and we lose so many people. It is very sad.
“Homelessness is a massive issue here in the West. But I have always tried to help people no matter their circumstances.”
To keep up with Muhammad’s work, and see clips of his pram, ‘Hope 4 the Homeless’ can be found on TikTok.