Manchester’s night walk raises thousands for the homeless
- Shelter raising money the homeless across the UK
- It was Manchester's first time hosting the 'sleep walk for Shelter' event
- Event received thousands of donations from generous participants
A 10k walk round Manchester helped raise thousands of pounds for homeless people this Christmas.
The night walk started and ended on Windmill Street and raised £2,652 to battle homelessness. The walk was hosted by Shelter, which has been hosting the Sleep Walk for Shelter event for almost six years in London.
This was the first time the event had been hosted in Manchester.
Jenny Fields, a 22-year-old student, has taken part in this event three times previously and took part in the Manchester event on Wednesday night.
“I heard about the event a few years ago through a friend and decided I wanted to get involved,” she said.
“I had to travel down to London last year and the year before to take part, so I was so happy to find out the event was happening in Manchester this year.
“I raised as much money as I could for the event by selling home made baked goods at my local church in Stockport, St Green Park.”
Overwhelmed by the generosity of our walkers and their kind donations to our @Shelter shops as part of #SleepWalkForShelter in Manchester tonight pic.twitter.com/ZvZjf0DghM
— Shelter Manchester (@ShelterManc) December 11, 2019
Homelessness is a subject that means a lot to Jenny. She and her mother were made homeless when Jenny was just four and they were forced to stay in hostels for almost three months, before finally setting up a flat.
She said: “I’ve experienced homelessness myself and even though I was really young, so I can’t remember much of it, just hearing how my mum speaks of how scared and helpless she felt is so upsetting, and is exactly the reason why I wanted to help charities such as shelter in the first place.
“They have done so much for so many people and I want to carry on working with them in the future.”
Jenny intends to continue raising money for Shelter and has already registered to take part in the London Sleep Walk for Shelter in December 2020.
The event charged a £15 fee from each participant, all of which will be going towards clothes and temporary accommodation for the homeless this Christmas. Shelter also asked any participants to donate any clothes and sanitary products they had spare. They received a truck full of donations from generous participants.