You don't need us to tell you that it's flipping freezing outside.

But, something even the most conscientious of us can sometimes forget is how lucky we have it, in these freezing months.

For most of us, a turn of a dial fills our homes with warmth, and endless cups of tea restore us after the morning commute.

Others aren't so lucky. With frost, and even snow in some parts of the country, on the ground, it's difficult to imagine what it would be like to sleep on the streets.

Thankfully, people like Sadiq Khan have stepped in and will be opening emergency shelters over the next week.

But there's plenty still to be done, and you can help too.

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If you spot someone sleeping rough you can report it through Street Link, so that your local authorities can try and relocate them.

Or, you could do what Fay Sibley did in Colchester, Essex, where she set up her own coat exchange outside the local library.

Her Facebook post has since been shared almost 1000 times (at the time of writing) and sparked an enormous sense of goodwill.

Faye spoke to Indy100 about her decision to lend a hand.

We all have coats in our wardrobe we've not worn in years - now we can put them to good use.

Her simple and straight-forward logic prompted her to collect up some coats, put them on a clothes dryer and print out a sign.

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The sign didn't specify that the coats were just for the homeless, because they aren't.

Faye commented on her Facebook post that they are for, 'Anyone who needs one.'

Apparently most of the original coats have gone from the exchange.

Faye saw the difference her initiative made when a couple sleeping in a tent thanked her and all the people who donated and tole her that it made 'all the difference'.

So if you've got any coats hanging at the back of your closet gathering dust, don't hesitate to start your own exchange, or donate one to a local shelter.

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Daisy Murray
Digital Fashion Editor

Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.