THREE weeks ago the Cabbages & Kings headline read: Death haunts our streets but does anyone care?

On Monday night with temperatures at -4C, and a white frost gripping Oxford, I got the answer.

Outside a boarded-up shop in Cornmarket Street, three women handed out warm overcoats and jackets to the homeless men and women on our streets. By 10pm they had given out 100 garments while the city’s best-known homeless man, the bearded Neo, distributed warm boots and shoes to many whose flimsy footwear would have been useless during the night ahead.

The three women are Cathy Dunbabin and Sonia Kearne, partners in the Open Doorz [corr] business network, and Shabnam Sabir, whose curry lunches at the homeless project centre in Manzil Way provide a filling and warming meal once a fortnight. She took along the leftovers from the day’s lunch; these were eagerly snapped up.

Where did the coats and boots come from? Cathy and Sonia had approached their business contacts who willingly gave from their stock. Their hope of reaching the 100 target was passed and Cathy tells me they have already been given another 100 to hand out.

“With shelters closing because of the financial cuts, the homeless will need more help from us all,” she said, stamping her feet and clapping her gloved hands in a bid to keep warm.

There are plans to provide more warm food and the caring trio need individual plastic containers to do this. Any takers? Contact cathy@opendoorz.biz if you can help.

Does anyone really care? Clearly some people do.

* WHO says the British can’t keep a secret? Not me. After all it has guarded one since 1952 and seems prepared to remain shtum.

I refer to the identity of the villain in the world’s longest running murder mystery, The Mousetrap. Dated in style it might be, but the touring company is packing them in this week at the New Theatre. It was a first viewing for me. The play has become something you must see before meeting your Maker – not that I’ve any immediate plans to do so.

No other work from the pen of Agatha Christie has acquired such silent loyalty. I reckon the person who breaks silence will become part of theatrical history. I wonder…

* BLACK Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, Wild Wednesday – all in the past week. It seems we must adopt yet another annoying American habit by adding a qualifying word to the names of the days, all in the interest of commerce.

If anyone says Awesome Saturday, I’ll explode.

* SOMEONE has to tell. The Mousetrap murderer is...dash it! – I’ve run out of space.