Trent Alexander-Arnold called it a “no-brainer” for him to assist individuals on the frontlines of Liverpool’s escalating homelessness epidemic.

This morning, the West Derby-born footballer was visiting the Whitechapel Warehouse, which is part of the Whitechapel Centre. At a time when rough sleeping in the city has increased by more than 50% in the last year, the organization is one of the city’s leading homelessness charities.

Alexander-Arnold, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, and Liverpool City Council leader Liam Robinson assisted employees and volunteers at the warehouse in filling emergency gifts for approximately 2,000 people. A conveyor belt was established, with individuals present filling much-needed things such as gifts, certificates, clothing, and sanitary products into gift bags that would be distributed across the city.

Cllr Robinson recently labeled the situation an emergency, citing a “unprecedented” increase in rough sleeping and urging the government to provide more assistance.

Alexander-Arnold told the ECHO that he was genuinely concerned about homelessness. “It’s a growing problem,” he remarked. It is significantly hurting the inhabitants of the city as well as people close to me, people surrounding me, friends, family, and people who mean a lot to me.

“It’s a big problem within the city, but it’s one that you see places like this are trying their best to tackle.”

Alexander-Arnold stated it was a “no-brainer” to assist in the fight against homelessness, admitting he had approached the Metro Mayor himself to see what he could do.

He praised Mr Rotheram and the Whitechapel Centre’s efforts, saying, “That’s the most important thing – as long as there’s people like this, volunteers, staff, Steve, who are working very, very hard and very closely to tackle this kind of issue, it means that the city will hopefully overcome the issues that are going on.”

Last summer, Alexander-Arnold was named Liverpool’s vice-captain. He denied that his willingness to promote social initiatives in the city had been sparked by his new leadership post.

“I think I’ve always felt responsibility from a younger age around giving back to the community and giving back to the city, because there are so many people in the city who have done so much for me growing up,” he added. They’re the ones who mean the most to me, so being vice captain or anything else doesn’t change my attitude about projects like these.

“I chatted with Steve, and he stressed how serious the situation was. It’s something I can really get behind, especially during the cold months, to raise as much awareness as possible about a rising issue that we need to address as effectively as possible. And seeing all of the work that the volunteers and personnel perform here is incredible.”

Mr Rotheram expressed doubt that the city could cope with the city’s growing number of rough sleepers. “I think the issue is that we don’t know how big the crisis will get,” he remarked.

“We know that there’s a cost of living crisis, we know that people through that are being forced onto the streets, and yet we don’t know where that’s going to stop because this is only something that a government can tackle.”

He stressed, however, that the local work of Alexander-Arnold and charities remained critical. “Having someone like Trent lend their name to this, to bring attention, to bring awareness to what people can do, because we can all play our little part,” he remarked.

“While I want to change the world, the government, and everything else, we all have to do our part.” And there are some volunteers here who are doing their part. And then, with Trent’s assistance, we’ll be doing our part to assist the approximately 2,000 people who get these parcels.

“I want structural reform, and I want total change.” People should have the right to a roof over their heads, which is a much larger issue for us to address as a society.

“The most we can do is influence someone’s life.” And the Whitechapel Centre does it every day.

“They use an outreach approach to get people the help they rightfully need and deserve.” And, look, we’re both from around here. We’re locals and everything.

“That’s why you’re so eager to see people succeed because there’s so much untapped potential out there.” These people have the potential to do amazing things if we can channel even a small portion of their energy in the proper direction.

Last week, the ECHO accompanied the Whitechapel Centre’s outreach staff on their morning shift, when they assisted homeless people in getting off the streets. Those working at the warehouse this morning were appreciative for Alexander-Anrold’s assistance at a time when the organization has never been busier.

“I’ve worked in homelessness now for over 20 years,” said David Carter, 55, of Garston, the centre’s CEO. I don’t recall it ever being this horrible.

“Unfortunately, homelessness is on the rise. We worked with over 4,300 different people in the Liverpool city region last year, which represented a 15% rise for us. This translates to 561 additional households facing homelessness. This year, we’re seeing an even higher increase.”