Imagine not having a roof over your head. Contemplating which doorway to bed down in for the night is a daily decision many people living on the streets have to make.

According to a recent state-of-the-nation report, published annually by Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, nine per cent of adults in England have experienced homelessness at some point in their life.

This weekend a Bradford charity is campaigning to raise the profile of the plight of people who, for various reasons, find themselves homeless.

Tomorrow, homelessness charity Emmaus Bradford will transform the window of Forster’s Bistro, in City Park, into a ‘bedroom’ to highlight the contrast between being homeless and having a home.

The campaign commemorates the 60th anniversary of Emmaus founder Abbe Pierre taking to the airwaves on Radio Luxembourg to appeal to the people of France to do something to help those sleeping rough in the particularly cold winter of 1954.

People were freezing to death on the streets of Paris, prompting Abbe to appeal for donations of food along with blankets, stoves and other items beneficial to those living on the streets in freezing temperatures.

The overwhelming support Abbe received from the French public was known as the “uprising of kindness”, leading to the formation of the international Emmaus movement.

Emmaus Bradford is one of hundreds of Emmaus communities across the globe calling for a similar “uprising of kindness” – asking people to help those in greater need than themselves – to commemorate that occasion.

The event will also be a springboard for Bradford Emmaus’s £3 million campaign to set up a home for the homeless within the city.

The charity has already secured St Mary’s Church at Barkerend – where a homeless day refuge has been held for several years – as a much-needed overnight shelter for the city.

Rachel De Luca, chairman of Bradford Emmaus, says now the challenge is on to desperately raise money to get the project up and running.

“We have been doing fundraising but it’s a marathon not a sprint,” says Rachel.

Emmaus currently has a project in Leeds, Mossley and Sheffield, and is due to open another shortly in Hull. It is hoped that the Bradford project will be up and running within two years.

“With Emmaus it is more of a long-term progressive way of tackling it, not just giving homeless people a bed for the night but giving them ways of improving their self-esteem, increasing their confidence and helping them get back on their feet,” Rachel explains.

“We’re not giving somebody a fish, we’re giving them a fishing rod – and that is what drew me to work with them. It is helping people to help themselves.”

While tomorrow’s event will focus on profiling the plight of the homeless, Rachel also hopes it will give people an incentive to pledge acts of kindness to others.

“It isn’t just about Emmaus, it’s a solidarity thing to get people to think about acts of kindness generally and to remind people we are still here, we are still fundraising,” she says. “Also, if they want to donate warm clothing, we can pass them on to other agencies in Bradford who can use them immediately.”

Rachel appreciates that people are struggling, and those who can’t donate may wish to fill in a pledge slip to do an act of kindness.

“We are asking people for their support, both for the Emmaus movement, and for other charities helping those who are socially disadvantaged,” she says. “Even if people just take the time to stop and talk to us, to find out a bit more about what we do, that would be great, but if they could bring a tin or packet of food, we will pass that to local food banks, or perhaps they might bring warm clothes or sleeping bags for local night shelters.

“As well as donations we will also be giving people an opportunity to pledge an ‘act of kindness’. Whether that’s pledging to spare a few hours volunteering for local charities, spending time to drop in on elderly neighbours, pledging to buy a hot drink for a homeless person or simply taking the time to make someone smile.

“The number of ways we can all spread kindness are infinite and it doesn’t need to cost the earth.”

Emmaus trustees and volunteers will be in Forster’s Bistro from 11am until 3pm tomorrow with information about the charity and other local charities.

You can make a pledge on the day, on Facebook page Emmaus Bradford or on Twitter @bradfordemmaus.