Esperança is an English-speaking association of volunteers founded in 2013 by Barcelona-based Liverpudlian Julie Stephenson The volunteers go out twice a week to distribute food and clothing as well as chat to people living on the streets of Barcelona.

The name Esperança translates as “Hope” and was inspired by a similar group in Liverpool called The Hope Project. The visits give these homeless people hope that people do care and want to help them rather than feeling sidelined and ignored.

The group started with a few sandwiches and some coffee and now has nearly 5,000 members of which some volunteers go out every Saturday and Sunday evening between 5-7pm depending on the season, with two different central routes in Barcelona.

They have never missed a run!