Actress's new role - as a cook for the homeless

Gabriela Hersham, 25, says she found none of the traditional soup kitchens needed her assistance so she started cooking at home in South Kensington for people living on the streets and now delivers meals to them weekly.

"It was two nights before Christmas," she said. "I called all the soup kitchens run by Shelter and Centrepoint and the charities and they all said they had enough volunteers - some had closed their books by October. So I thought, 'I'm bloody well going to make the food myself and take it out on the street.'"

She cooked up 10 batches of roast vegetables, baked potatoes and rice and put them in bags with Christmas cards. "I ended up going to Victoria on Christmas Eve and there were so many people, some in groups, some alone, of all ages and nationalities.

"I was a bit nervous at first. I had been warned that a lot of homeless people get offended. But each one was so touched, there was no way I was not going to do it again."

Ms Hersham, star of a number of independent movies including last year's A Happy Ending, has now recruited a friend, shoe designer Deborah Lyons, and is making weekly runs of 20 meal parcels.

She fears for the homeless in the current freezing temperatures, but is also worried for them this summer. "I fear that during the Olympics they are going to be cleaned off the streets because the eyes of the world are on London."

Ms Hersham, born in the capital, said she is greeted only with gratitude and has never once felt threatened. She urged other Londoners to follow her example. "It's very easy. We all cook in the kitchen for friends and family, why not just cook some extra vegetables or more rice and give it out?

"People are afraid of interacting with the homeless, they feel they might get a bad reaction. We have such negative feelings towards them - we blame them for their situation."