While most people were enjoying Christmas Day with their families, some were giving their time to help the less fortunate at homeless shelters.

And one such volunteer was none other than Ipswich Town footballer Tyrone Mings, who spent part of the day with his girlfriend dishing out food at a shelter before joining his team-mates for the trip to Doncaster for yesterday’s match.

Writing on his official Twitter account, Mings said: “Best thing I’ve ever done & most rewarding. Going to feed the homeless and less fortunate on Christmas…”

It’s not the first time Mings has shown his generous side, having previously given away tickets for Town against Bolton to a fan who said on Twitter he couldn’t afford them.

Mr Mings said: “It was an idea that my girlfriend had a few months ago. We don’t have any family in Ipswich so we thought we would spend Christmas morning helping out in the community.

“We spent a couple of hours helping to prepare the food and talking to the people there. It was very humbling experience and a long way from football.

“It was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done and something I’d certainly consider doing again.”

Mings has received praise on the social networking site for his actions after he posted a photo of himself at the shelter on Instagram.

One person said: “Well done Tyrone for what you done yesterday nice to see footballers putting something back.”