(Picture: Rossparry/Lancashire Evening Post)

A 22-year-old university student is to live rough for 24 hours to raise money for a homeless man called Robbie who insisted on giving her his last £3 so she could get a taxi home safely from Preston town centre.

Dominique Harrison-Bentzen, a Miss Preston finalist, had lost her bank card – but only realised when she went to get money for a cab.

Her campaign to raise money has been retweeted by former Stone Roses singer Ian Brown.

RT @CurlyClaire13 Please donate £3 to help Robbie #Prestonshomelesshero get a deposit for a flat http://t.co/WblgiEjrUL — Official Ian Brown (@ianbrowncouk) December 10, 2014

Miss Harrison-Bentzen said: ‘I suddenly realised that I had no money and a homeless man approached me with his only change of £3.


‘He insisted I took it to pay for a taxi to make sure I got home safe.



‘I ended up posting a status on Facebook to try and find him the next day and it turns out I’m not the only person he has helped.’

Posters on Facebook said that Robbie had also helped them, returning wallets and offering his scarf when they were cold.

Homeless Robbie (not pictured) lives on the streets of Preston (Picture: GoGetFunding/Facebook)

Miss Harrison-Bentzen aims to raise money for Robbie to rent a flat by spending 24 hours on the streets with him.

The University of Central Lancashire student continued: ‘He has been homeless for seven months through no fault of his own and he can’t get work due to having no address.

‘And I simply can’t just give him the money, I have to go through the right channels. So I will be spending 24 hours through the day and night as a homeless person to understand the difficulties they face each day.

The student aims to spend 24 hours living rough to help Robbie (Picture: Rossparry)

‘If people can sponsor me £3 – as Robbie attempted to give me his only £3 – in the hope of collecting enough to get Robbie a flat deposit so that he can be safe and warm.

‘It’s just so overwhelming the response I’ve had. Even Ian Brown from the Stone Roses has tweeted about our event.’

Miss Harrison-Bentzen said she didn’t end up accepting Robbie’s offer – but wants to pay him back for his generosity, to her and others who have since shared their stories.

To donate or get involved, visit Miss Harrison-Bentzen’s fundraising Facebook page or donate at www.gogetfunding.com/project/help-robbie-preston-s-homeless-hero

https://www.facebook.com/helprobbiepreston/posts/576923992451698

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