 Could you help raise money for the centre by taking part in the Bupa Great Manchester Run? Registrations are now open!
Join 40,000 people for Europe's biggest 10k running event on Sunday 18 May 2014. Entries cost £38 (£31.66 plus VAT at 20%) which includes a T-shirt, medal, Finishers Pack and accurate chip timing. Join the Booth Centre team and help raise money for our Centre. Once you've registered, just send us an email and we'll arrange to send you a Booth Centre running vest or t-shirt and a sponsorship form. You can register for the event online, and there's lots more information on their website.
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On Friday 9th November over 100 people decided to brave cold and wet weather to sleep outside Manchester Cathedral to raise money for the Booth Centre.
Around £15,000 has already been raised through the event with more donations to come, which will have a significant impact on the work the centre is able to do. Amanda Croome, manager of the Booth Centre said "This is a particularly challenging time of year for people who find themselves homeless, and as the nights get colder and wetter it's vitally important that we're able to help people get off the streets and into suitable accommodation. This boost to our funds will make a huge difference to our work." Although the event gave participants a glimpse of some of the hardships homeless people have to face each night, organisers were committed to showing some of the positive changes the work of the Booth Centre can have on the lives of local homeless people. "One of the activities the centre runs is a weekly singing workshop in conjunction with Streetwise Opera and Opera North. We staged a mini opera during the sleepout involving some of the people who use the centre regularly, and it was great to see such a positive reaction to their performance." Among those taking part in the event was Helen Varley, who works for CBBC in Salford Quays. "It was an amazing experience but also a harsh insight into the life some people have to lead. I felt the winter chill in my bones, my sleeping bag was soggy, and the hard ground and noise made sleep pretty impossible - I think I got 30 minutes kip all night! I don't think anyone who was part of the sleepout will ever take a warm bed for granted again and I'm proud and pleased that we have all come together for such a great cause." Thank you to everyone who took part and made this such a successful event. We'll update you with a final total when we've finished collecting all the sponsorship raised! We have launched our Harvest Festival Appeal to help us to provide hot drinks and free food to the 120 homeless people who visit the Booth Centre each week. Please download a poster with all the details and share it wherever it will be welcome - at university, at work or on your community noticeboard! 
For more information please see our Harvest Festival Appeal page.
On Friday 25th November 35 people decided to brave the cold weather and sleep outside Manchester Cathedral to raise money for the Booth Centre.
The event raised over £5,000, which will make an immediate difference to the work the centre can do. Amanda Croome, manager of the Booth Centre said "The number of homeless people in Manchester has increased recently and the Booth Centre is doing everything it can to ensure that as few people as possible end up rough sleeping, and those that do are able to get off the streets as quickly as possible. This boost to our funds will make a real difference to our work." Although the event only gave a glimpse of what life on the streets is like, we wanted to make sure that those participating understood the reality of sleeping rough. "We asked two people who have slept rough in the past to give everyone taking part a true picture of what it is really like to sleep out, how dangerous and demoralising it is and also to explain how they have rebuilt their lives with help from the Booth Centre." Among those taking part in the event was Jill Southern, who works at St Thomas Primary School in Leigh. "It was a great experience. I did get a couple of hours sleep, but I'm lucky enough to be able to come home to a warm house and a cosy bed afterwards. The evening really made me appreciate what I've got." A huge thank you to everyone that took part and made this event such a success! For photos of the event please see our facebook page.  The staff at GVA Grimley's Manchester office adopted us as their charity of the year - and so far they've raised a whopping £3,000 for us by running a series of events, including cake sales that were very popular with everyone!
They dropped by the Centre on Wednesday to present us with a cheque for all the money they've raised, which we can use right away to make a real difference to the lives of homeless people in Manchester. We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone from GVA Grimley that has been involved in this fundraising. If you'd like to find out more about how you can help raise funds for the Booth Centre through your organisation, please take a look at our corporate giving page or get in touch. Since we relaunched our website in 2010 we've been thrilled by the amount of support you've shown - whether it be through taking up the volunteering opportunities we advertised, participating in our campaigns, or by fundraising for the centre. You have also given us a huge amount of feedback, which gives us a fantastic opportunity to improve what we do and how we do it.
One of the things you've said you would like to see improve is the ways in which you can make donations online. We are delighted to announce that as of today you can give money to the Booth Centre online through our JustGiving page. By using JustGiving to manage donations we hope to make it easier and faster for you to give to the Booth Centre, and it also opens up opportunities for more flexible ways of giving that we couldn't accommodate before, such as donating through PayPal or by donating a regular sum each month. It also makes it much easier for us to claim Gift Aid on donations, meaning we will spend less time processing payments and more time where it's really needed - providing advice and activities for homeless people. You can find out more about JustGiving at their website. If you have any questions, feedback or ideas on these changes please post them in the comments section. |
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