On Friday 8th November, a team of 15 from Altrincham law firm Myerson took on the challenge of sleeping rough in the centre of Manchester for one night, taking on the winter weather in an amazing effort to raise funds and awareness, to support people experiencing homelessness. All funds raised go to local charity, the Booth Centre, who aim to end homelessness in Manchester. Joanne Evans, Partner at Myerson and one of the volunteers who took part said:
“This extraordinary event, held outside Manchester Cathedral, helps to highlight some of the hardships that homeless people face every night. Over 500 people took part, sleeping outside on what turned out to be a very cold winter night!
The Booth Centre are working hard to achieve the fundamental right of a “home for everyone” and the money raised at the event will help them continue striving towards this vision, bringing about real positive change.”
The evening began with a powerful opening address given by Booth Centre CEO, Amanda Croome, who founded the Booth Centre over 20 years ago. She said:
“The numbers of people on the streets at the moment are huge… and rough sleeping is just the tip of the iceberg for homelessness in Manchester. Manchester City Council has over 50 people a day approaching them as homeless…”.
“Last year the centre helped 406 individuals come off the streets and 104 people into employment…We don’t just want beds in hostels, we want everyone to have a front door that they can close, where they can feel safe.”
At Myerson we would like to thank the Booth Centre for the incredible work they achieve each year along with their event sponsors Construction Impact Framework (CIF), The University of Salford and Salford Royal (Northern Care Alliance) for creating an amazing event to generate positive change and awareness.
The Manchester Sleepout in 2018 raised an incredible £155,000, and at the opening of the 2019 Sleepout the total raised was already at £60,000, surpassing last year’s opening figure. Donations are still welcome and if you would like to donate via the Myerson page please click here.
Donations end December 6th.
Please visit the Booth Centre website HERE to find out more about the work they do.