On the 29th September, we hosted 48 amazing Booth Centre Supporters, right here at the Centre for our Autumn Sleepover event. Individuals, organisations, and businesses traded their comfy beds for our floors, showing immense compassion to raise crucial funds and awareness for those affected by homelessness in our community.

The evening kicked off with a fantastic welcome from our CEO Paul and Head of Fundraising Jenni, thanking each of our challengers for their time and commitment, but also reminding us why we are here:

Today in Manchester, more than 7,500 are without a home. Here at the Centre we've witnessed a 35% surge in the demand for our services in the past year alone. This surge, especially as temperatures drop and the need for support continues to rise, emphasizes the crucial role our community plays in providing life-changing support to those affected by homelessness. We simply could not deliver our vital service without the generosity and commitment of our supporters.

It was really wonderful to welcome so many of our supporters to the Centre- some for the first time- to see the Centre in person, and hear first-hand how their support helps people in our community. Throughout the evening staff, visitors, volunteers and supporters new and old engaged in engaged in heartfelt discussions before finally winding down for lights out. 

The night was bitingly cold but luckily without rain, and as sun rose on Saturday morning our challengers woke up to a hot drink and sandwich, before heading home to thaw out! While spending the night in an unfamiliar and open environment offered only a glimpse into the struggles endured by those without a home, it left our participants with plenty to think about, and their resilience in overcoming this challenge was amazing.

We are so proud of and grateful to everyone who took part in the event, and hope that despite the lack of sleep, after the event they felt invigorated, enthused and inspired. The event has so far raised an impressive £20,000 and these funds will directly aid individuals in their journey out of homelessness, guiding them toward stable accommodation, employment, and training. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated, from all of us at the Booth Centre.

Check out the full gallery of images from the night below. If you spot yourself and would like a higher quality copy of the image please contact Isla at isla@boothcentre.org.uk. Fundraising pages are still open, so if you wish to make a last-minute donation, head to our JustGiving Page to support our fundraisers and our cause!

Feeling inspired? Sign up for our next Sleepover event here! Will we see you at the next one?

The story that then unfolds is truly delightful, as a rag-tag group of players launch ‘Coronation Tours’, overhauling an old bus from their workplace and... ahem “redirecting” some cash donations meant for charity to the enterprise- much to their boss’ dismay! From there, we are taken on a journey to sunny Blackpool, along with a family unit straight out of a ‘Carry On’ film and no shortage of cries of “Are we there yet- no!” that echoes the call and response of pantomime theatre and proved just as entertaining!  

In a case of mistaken identities rivalled only by a Shakespearean comedy, one of our protagonists- Queenie- reveals herself, confessing that she has run away with Coronation Tours and was masquerading as a man the whole time- shock! This confession is overheard by our nosey landlady- a true entertainer throughout the performance- and the newspapers, now under the impression that the newly crowned Queen has come to Blackpool, are on their way- horror! The confusion and silliness only intensify when, between further hijinks and a particularly eventful ride on the ghost train, it is revealed that Queen Elizabeth herself was in fact in Blackpool all along (stop I can’t take anymore!) 

​As the show played out to a captivated audience of friends, family and (no doubt after this performance) newfound fans, it was interesting to reflect not just on the talent of the actors but on the message of the performance, which was one of friendship, love and acceptance. It is always nice to be reminded that, regardless of who we are or whatever our situation might be, kindness and tolerance will bond us, and we are all Queens at heart. ​

Our wonderful Head of Wellbeing Miranda recently took on a mammoth trek around the Isle of Wight in support of the Booth Centre. In this blog, she tells us all about how it went and why she chose this particular challenge... 

The Booth Centre and wellbeing  
At the Booth Centre, I am involved with planning and providing activities that support wellbeing alongside physical and mental good health. Our wonderful team offer a wide range of opportunities for the people that come to the Booth Centre to improve their wellbeing – from creative art-based activities to gardening and bowls. We also have partners such as CGL (Change Grow Learn) who provide expert support to tackle mental ill-health as well as wellbeing and substance misuse support.

Wellbeing and the great outdoors  
Working for an organisation that focuses on wellbeing and good mental health helps me to reflect and plan how to keep myself well.  I love being outside and feel very lucky to live in Salford which is full of canals and parks and work at the Booth Centre with its lovely garden. After the travel restrictions of COVID-19 and not being to get out and about I was hoping to have a change of scenery this year – to experience a new landscape which I knew would benefit my own mental health.  So, turning 50 this year I decided to sign up for an outdoors event – as this would motivate me to get fit with some regular training walks and explore my local area a bit more.

The Isle of Wight Challenge  
I decided to do the Isle of Wight Action Challenge – as a coastal walk I felt this variety of landscape was what I was looking for, and at the beginning of May the wildflowers and birds would provide some welcome distraction from achy feet!  The challenge is 106km in total so would include walking time through the night – as I haven’t done this before this felt exciting. As an organised walk, I also knew there would be advice and help – and importantly food and refreshments – throughout, and a marked out route which is much easier to follow.   
​
I decided to do the event as a fundraiser as part of my half-decade celebrations.  There are lots of brilliant charities and causes to raise money for – for me the Booth Centre made sense.  I am lucky enough to be able to see the impact that our services make for people living in Greater Manchester, from our exciting activities programme through to using our free café for a tasty meal there are many ways that the Booth Centre supports our community to improve their wellbeing and physical health.  As a local charity, based in Manchester it also felt important to me to raise money that benefits people where I live and work.   ​

The Booth Centre has been working with community artists interference-art in our art sessions over the last few months. Interference-art have brought together participants’ artwork and words into four collaborative art prints and ‘The Breath Book’ - a mini book. Together they feature our favourite ways to make ‘room to breathe’ every day, outside of the art gallery.  

The collaborative art prints will be on display for a few months in a new community space off the Room to Breathe gallery room. A limited run of free printed copies of ‘The Breath Book’ will be available for visitors to take away and be inspired by the Booth Centre community long after the display finishes. When the temporary display finishes, the art prints will come home to the Booth Centre. 
​
For more information about Room To Breathe at Manchester Art Gallery:

A message from Elena Fowler, Chair of Booth Centre's Board of Trustees:

'I am delighted to announce that following a detailed and demanding recruitment process through partnership working with people accessing the Booth Centre, Paul Newcombe will be joining the team as our new CEO. Paul has a wealth of experience in the sector, and I am confident he will lead the Centre in exciting new ways during this next phase of our development. 

I'd like to thank Kate McSweeney, our current Acting CEO and the Leadership Team for their commitment and success during the interim, and I know they will work closely with Paul once he has started.'

Elena Fowler
Chair of Trustees

Kate McSweeney, Acting CEO, added:
​
'I look forward to welcoming Paul to the Centre and to working with him to further develop the great work and the direction of the Booth Centre going forward.'

Paul, currently ABEN Coordinator in the Homelessness Directorate at Manchester City Council, will join the Booth Centre team in March, and added:

'I'm thrilled to be taking on this leadership role with a fantastic organisation. I want to use my skills and experience to support staff to do the best job they can and make a real difference for those who visit the centre. My focus will be to build on the great work and outcomes currently delivered at the centre and further enhance its strong reputation in the sector.'

The winter of 1990-91 was very severe and, with an estimated 150 people sleeping rough in Manchester, volunteers from Lifeshare responded and opened two night shelters at the Methodist Central Hall and the Church of the Ascension in Hulme. Again, very quickly it became obvious that this also wasn’t what people wanted or needed. They were glad to have the opportunity to come off the streets but people wanted their own homes and support to address their problems, rather than a mattress on a church floor. 

By 1994 people were telling us that they wanted much more than soup runs. They wanted to take more control over their lives.  We took a group of people to London to visit the Big Issue, which had just started, and came back and wrote a Manchester supplement and the Big Issue in the North was born. People were requesting a place where they could get support during the day and more activities to get involved with. Lifeshare wrote to the City Council and to the Church of England to request some land to put a portacabin on. The Council never replied but Ken Riley, the Dean of Manchester Cathedral offered their brass rubbing room. Within 6 months an application was made to English Heritage to put a new door into the Cathedral from Victoria Street, a grant was obtained from the Booth Charities (set up by Humphrey Booth in the 17th century to help poor people of Salford), giving the Booth Centre its name, and the room was converted to include an office, toilet and tea bar, and the Centre opened with a co-ordinator and 6 volunteers on 1st May 1995. 

The official opening of the Centre dedicated it to the memory of Mick Leddy and Peter Ryan who had lived on the streets for many years and had died prematurely. The vision was that everyone should have the opportunity to have their own home and good quality of life. The Centre was based on several key principles; firstly, that everyone should have access to good quality advice, so that they can make decisions and take control of their lives, secondly that the Centre should be shaped and delivered with people who use the service and thirdly that everyone needs a purpose in life and that people who are homeless should have the opportunity to take part in activities that are creative, fun and interesting. So, our strapline in 1995 was “drop-in for advice, activities and support”, our logo was a person parachuting and we offered sandwiches and an advice service each morning and ran drama, singing, creative writing, art and circus skills sessions each afternoon. Billy Kennedy, who lived at Mary and Joseph House, arrived the day before we opened and told us he would sweep the floor. He was the first of hundreds of people who came to the Booth Centre for support and ended up helping to run the Centre.    

In 1997 the Booth Centre’s registration with the Charity Commission was approved and it became an independent charity with a board of trustees, chaired by Philip Knowles and including the Dean of the Cathedral. It was also the year the Centre employed its second worker and developed more activities including regular outdoor pursuit residentials, giving people the opportunity to try new things outside the city. Later this developed into conservation work, an allotment project and a gardening social enterprise which we ran for a few years before it was taken over by our trainees as an independent concern. 

Over the last 26 years, the Booth Centre’s arts programme has opened up new interests and experiences to more than a thousand people. It has enabled people at the Centre to, amongst many other things, perform at the Royal Exchange Theatre, The Bridgewater Hall, and The Royal Opera House in London and to stage exhibitions at the Whitworth Art Gallery and the People’s History Museum. We have also taken people to Brazil and Lithuania to exhibit their work and make international links. We have worked with fantastic partners in the arts sector including The Edge Theatre, Streetwise Opera and arthur + martha and have won a number of arts awards. It is one of the many things that makes the Booth Centre a very special and creative place.
  
The pioneering work of the Centre and the dedication of volunteers, most of whom have experienced homelessness, was recognised in 2015 when we won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and in 2018 when we won the Homeless Link National Excellence award for Co-production. 

In 2020 as COVID-19 was emerging we met with people at the Centre to redesign our service to ensure that we could stay open throughout the pandemic and that people were able to get off the streets and look after their mental health by having access to a range of activities which helped them to stay safe and accommodated. We also achieved our aim of delivering Emergency Accommodation Standards in Manchester, through our work with the City Council and all our other partners, which ensures people no longer have to stay in night shelters but have single room accommodation with support.   

We have not yet eradicated rough sleeping but the services that exist in 2021 are significantly better than they were in 1991. The launch of the Manchester Homeless Partnership in 2017, which the Booth Centre played a leading role in, has brought together the voluntary and statutory services with the faith-based sector, businesses and people who are homeless to ensure that we have a joined-up approach to ending homelessness in Manchester.  

People know that the Booth Centre never gives up on anyone and won’t give up on them - quite uniquely people aren’t barred from the Centre but we work with people to ensure that they can attend safely. 

Fundamentally the Booth Centre is a family and is described by most people who visit as a safe place where they feel welcomed and where they matter as an individual. This is shown very strongly each year when we hold a memorial service and come together as a community to remember friends from the Centre who have passed away. It’s a Booth Centre family event, people write and perform songs and poetry and we ensure that people who have attended the Centre are important and won’t be forgotten. 

Tomorrow, I’ll be leaving the Booth Centre and a new CEO will be recruited to help guide the Booth Centre on the next stage of its journey. I do not doubt that it will continue to develop new and innovative ways to try and achieve its mission of ensuring that everyone has a secure home and a good quality of life. I’m sure that the new CEO will find it a life-changing experience, just as I and most of the people who visit, volunteer or work at the Centre have done. 
​
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the Centre over the last quarter-century - you’ve helped to create a very unique and special place.   ​