As part of this year's Spirit of Manchester Festival hosted by Manchester Community Central, we invite you to come and join us for a day of art, creativity and fun on 26th September. 

We will be showcasing the excellent work produced by people who use the Booth Centre. You will be able to see some fabulous art work, video productions and some live performances from our opera group. 

Refreshments will be provided so please come along, have a look at our new premises and see what we have been up to. 

RSVP to: james@boothcentre.org.uk

Date: Friday 26th September          
Time: 13:30-15:30         
Venue: The Booth Centre, Edward Holt House, Pimblett Street, Manchester M3 1FU

On 31st March 2014 the Booth Centre will be moving to a new building - Edward Holt House, just a 5 minute walk from our current home at Manchester Cathedral. Our existing premises have served us well, but with the large number of people coming to us for support we've had a real need for more space. This new building will enable us to greatly extend our services for homeless people and help many more people get off the streets, gain skills and qualifications, get back into work and resettle in the community.

The new building is much larger than our current one, which is going to enable us to do so much more to help people that come to us for support every day. We have a large cafe space, dedicated advice rooms, an activities room, training room, and a commercial kitchen where we will be able to train people in catering skills, as well as providing good quality food. Outside there's a large garden with an allotment and a boules court.

We'd like to thank the Edward Holt Trust, The Booth Charities and all the other individuals, companies and trusts who have helped us raise the money for this ambitious project. With your generous support we'll be able to continue making a real difference to the lives of homeless people in Manchester and Salford.

To see directions to our new building and download a map, please visit our updated contact details page. 

On Thursday 26 September the first Spirit of Manchester Awards ceremony was held at NOMA, the new Co-operative building.

It was a fantastic night highlighting the work of Manchester’s voluntary and community sector.

We were thrilled to win the vote and the award for best volunteer involving organisation. The Lord Mayor of Manchester presented us with a trophy, a certificate, pen and £20 of Manchester Christmas market shillings.

For more information about the awards please see the Spirit of Manchester Awards website and you can see photos from the night on the flickr page.

You can watch the film about what our volunteers mean to us here

The Booth Centre has been shortlisted for a Lloyds Community Fund Award of £3,000 and the winner will be decided by a public vote.
 
We would use the money to set up a welfare fund to purchase basic furniture for people moving off the streets to help them to establish new homes in the community. 

You can help us make this happen by casting your vote - it's quick and simple!
 
You can vote online or by visiting your local Lloyds Bank branch and asking at the desk for a voting token and casting your vote in the bank.

If you'd prefer you can vote by SMS too. Just text VOTE LQHB to 61119. Texts will be charged at your mobile network provider's standard rate.

You have until 1st November to cast your vote. Please share with anyone who may be interested in voting for us! Thank you.

The Booth Centre has been shortlisted for a Spirit of Manchester Award for the Best Volunteer Involving Organisation in Manchester. 

We are thrilled to announce that we have secured new premises that will provide us with much more space and will allow us to greatly expand the help we offer to homeless people.

The building has been purchased for us by the Edward Holt Trust and is just a 5 minute walk from our current base at Manchester Cathedral.  We have secured planning permission and are currently working with people from the Centre and a firm of architects to re-model the Centre so that it meets our needs. It is a large building project which will involve installing a lift as well as a brand new heating system, so it won't be finished until the spring.

We will maintain a close link with Manchester Cathedral who have housed us for the last 18 years. The Edward Holt Trust is kindly funding the cost of the refurbishment, however we still need to raise funds to equip the new building, and so we have lauched our New Building Appeal. 

A team from Altrincham Grammar School have won the Youth Philanthropy Initiative Award on behalf of the Booth Centre.  The project aims to get young people engaged in social change and participate in growing compasionate communities.  The £3,000 prize money will help to fund our Cafe Advice sessions, which provides free food, socks and toiletries to 170 people a week and to fund furniture packages for people moving into new homes.  Congratulations to Robyn, Maria, Kate and Lamisa and thank you for your suppport.

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.