Winter clothes racks set up to help rough sleepers and the homeless get through the cold winter months are being extended all year round for families hit by the cost-of-living crisis.

But Islington North MP and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn believes it “shouldn’t be necessary” in an affluent society.

The ‘take one, leave one’ racks for people needing warm clothing and for wellwishers to leave spare items for others first began in Clerkenwell in 2018 when Britain was gripped by the cold snap dubbed ‘The Beast from the East’.

Journalist Stefan Simanowitz put a rail of warm clothes outside his office in Exmouth Market with a banner saying, “If you’re cold, take one — if you can help, leave one.”

The idea caught on and has since appeared outside 150 charity shops up and down the country.

“The coats had almost all gone by lunchtime that first day,” Stefan recalled this week. “But the rack was filled by the end of the day with more coats, jackets, sweaters, hats, scarves and gloves from people living or working in the area.”

Jeremy Corbyn is among his supporters — but argues that the ‘help yourself’ racks shouldn’t really be necessary.

He said in a message to organisers setting up the all-year-round rack at Highbury this week: “This is a simple and effective idea that ensures those in need can get warm clothes.

“But it shames the government in a wealthy country like the UK that it should be necessary at all.”

Yet the idea has also spread to other affluent countries in Europe and North America while drawing celebrity support from the likes of Boy George and Gary Lineker.

The all-year-round rack, first revealed in the Islington Gazette, was set up last week at the Highbury Roundhouse community centre.

Organisers approached all the main charity shops last year suggesting they also put a ‘take one, leave one’ rack of clothes outside, which got the thumbs up from Shelter, Crisis and the Big Issue.

Getting charity shops involved can overcome challenges of organising the racks, they point out. The charities already collect clothes and have volunteers to help out.

Stefan Simanowitz has put together a start-up pack for anyone to set up racks in local high streets through the “takeoneleaveone.com” website.