The Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity has granted an emergency £100,000 to the city-region’s homelessness charitable sector to help them deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The charity has also launched an urgent appeal calling on big businesses and individuals to donate funds to support voluntary, community and social enterprises during the crisis.
The Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity has called for the donations to support the work of the voluntary, public, private and faith sectors as they work to safeguard the health and well-being of people across Greater Manchester without a home.
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As well as financial support, Greater Manchester’s business community is being asked to make donations of essential items including food, toothbrushes and toothpaste, soaps, wet wipes and even white goods and IT equipment. These goods will be made available to those working on the frontline by the organisation Street Support.
Following the announcement last week of a £5 million pound package of support to get 1,000 people who are sleeping rough and in temporary shared accommodation in to hotel rooms across the city, these donations are set to form the basis of packages of goods which will be delivered to homeless people who are currently living in hotel accommodation.
Speaking about the appeal and difficulties faced by charities and the homeless, Tim Heatley, Chair of the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity, commented, “While our community, and communities around the world, are facing this pandemic, it has never been more important to show that in Greater Manchester, we pull together in times of adversity to lift each other up.
“The Mayor’s Charity fundraises all year round and is focused on reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness, and in particular rough sleeping.
“We’ve already made an emergency contribution of £100,000 – this is a recognition of the pressure on budgets and the immediate need for support. The funding will be vital in enabling the hard work of those on the frontline assisting and safeguarding the homeless community throughout Greater Manchester during this pandemic. But we can do so much more.
“We’re looking at a moment in time where everyone sleeping rough across the city-region is off the streets – this gives us an opportunity to change things in the long term. With the generosity of those living in Greater Manchester, and the support of its business community, we may be able to end rough sleeping across our city-region all together.
“Let’s show the rest of the world what Greater Manchester can do when we all come together.”
The public can visit gmmayorscharity.co.uk to donate.
The charity is asking businesses for bulk supplies of:
- Food packages – i.e. Dry food such as cereals, microwaveable meals, tea/coffee, sugar, fruits
- Welfare packages – i.e. toothbrush, toothpaste, flannels, shampoo, shower gel, sanitary products, deodorant
- Hygiene packages – i.e. Hand sanitiser, hand wash, soaps, wet wipes, tissues
- Food preparation equipment – i.e. Microwaves, hot plates
- Cutlery and crockery – i.e. knives, forks, bowls, plates, cups and mugs
- Transportation – for delivery of food and welfare packages
- Essential IT equipment – i.e. smartphones, laptops
- Solo activities – i.e. games, consoles, notebooks, pens
Though not possible to receive donations of individual items at this time, if any businesses or organisations are able to donate items in bulk they are encouraged to get in touch via gmmayorscharity.co.uk.
