Ellie Goulding has donated £2,000 to a homeless charity in Hereford.

Ellie Goulding

Ellie Goulding

The 31-year-old singer grew up in the English city, and although she's no longer based there, she has proven she still holds her hometown close to her heart as she has donated a whopping sum to the Hereford Homeless Winter Support Group.

The charitable drive hoped to raise £500 to help the city's homeless population during the harsh winter weather that has swept the UK, but Ellie's impressive donation has smashed their humble target.

Ellie confirmed the news on her Twitter account after Hereford's local newspaper picked up the story, and garnered negative attention from some locals who wondered why she was being praised for her donation.

One user raged: "Joe Bloggs hands homeless person a couple of quid and walks on. Ellie gives £2k (a comparable percentage of net worth as Joe Bloggs) and receives a positive publicity article out of it. This is why I despise celebrity. (sic)"

Which prompted another user to leap to her defence, writing: "It's smashed the amount they aimed to raise. She's not asked for any publicity, but what it has done is raised awareness for a good cause, and others might now donate comparable sums. It all adds up. (sic)"

The 'Love Me Like You Do' singer then took to Twitter to respond to the fan who had stuck up for her, as she wrote: "Thank you, and yes, that was the aim. I don't know why Herefordians are always so quick to the negative before the positive. I donated an anonymous amount, (not that I wanted to mention) which I do to charity each month, and raise nearly 100k each year (sic)"

The Hereford Homeless Winter Support Group has been distributing warm clothing, hot water bottles and other basic survival resources to the homeless, and after launching an online appeal for donations, they have now managed to raise over £5,000.


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