A trendy restaurant chain has given away thousands of free pizzas as part of a drive to help the homeless during this week’s extreme weather.

Franco Manca announced the initiative last week amid safety concerns for rough sleepers in the face of the “Beast from the East”.

The chain tweeted out an appeal for orders, asking its followers to “pls tweet us if you know anyone who could do with some warming pizza on us during the week”.  

Sandro Spahiu, the chain’s operations manager, told HuffPost UK: “We already support homeless people by giving them our spare pizzas, so this just made perfect sense.” 

The chain said it has received hundreds of messages from charities and members of the public.

The idea came from one of the chain’s south coast branches and has since expanded to include all 42 of its sites across the south of England.

“I was working in the Bournemouth branch and saw a man walk past, he was homeless and clearly freezing, looking cold,” Spahiu said. 

“I invited him in and we sat down while his pizza was made. It turned out he had been an accountant, but was down on his luck.

“I asked him to stay and eat, but he said he needed to find his friend near the station, so then we gave him a second pizza.”

The bulk of the donations have been delivered to soup kitchens, shelters and food banks, the chain said. 

Demand has been so high that staff haven’t had time to process orders through tills.

“The accounts can come later,” one staff member said.

In London, homeless charity St Mungo’s has received hundreds of pizzas.

Dan Olney, who works on the charity’s homeless outreach services, told HuffPost: “Huge thanks to Franco Manca, who have been gifting pizzas for rough sleepers coming into our severe weather shelters. It’s a very generous and much appreciated gesture.

“St Mungo’s is working day and night to help as many people inside as possible. Rough sleeping is harmful and dangerous but when temperatures drop, lives are at risk.”

The charity has also received donations from other businesses, including Domino’s Pizza.

Meanwhile, requests have also come from individuals who have seen people sleeping rough near their homes or workplaces.

“I’ve seen your post about free pizza… I’ve just spoken to a man outside Tesco on Jubliee Street,” one direct message to the chain on Twitter read. “I think a pizza would help him out.”

The chain said it is now exploring how this initiative might continue in the longer term, after the cold weather has passed.

“I think this is something we can now explore, perhaps one day every month,” Spahiu said. “We take things for granted, so this is giving back.”

If you are concerned about someone sleeping rough, St Mungo’s urges people to get in touch via the StreetLink website streetlink.org.uk to help connect someone with their local service as soon as possible.

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