By Tony O’Riley-
Charites across Greater Manchester are appealing for support for rough sleepers after a warehouse holding emergency supplies was broken into and thousands of items were stolen.
The Greater Manchester Homelessness Action Network (GMHAN), Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity and Manchester Homeless Partnership, are among the local charities and authorities collaborating on the COVID-19 emergency supplies depot, originally established by CAPITAL&CENTRIC and Kamani Property in Manchester’s New Cross.
The groups are calling for businesses and individuals to contribute to the effort in helping those affected by the theft.
The GMHAN project in Greater Manchester have supplied 3000 meals and 1000 essential packages every week.
They are asking for assistance with PPE supplies (face masks, gloves etc.)non-perishable food (e.g. tins, dried pasta, sugar, coffee/tea), large quantity of take out containers and disposable cutlery
Solo activities for adults and children (books, jigsaws, puzzles, colouring pads and pens)
Mobile phones and chargers.
The team led by Co founder Gary Dunston and Viv Slack , are an incredibly committed group with a natural drive and empathy for the homeless. They comprise of a Street Support Network which works both online and offline, connecting and supporting local people and organisations to Tackle Homelessness. Filled with strategic approaches by gifted humanitarian’s, The Eye Of Media.om can confirm the quality and commitment of this team
Co founder Viv Slack in particular who has valuable experience having worked with Oxfam and Amnesty International has a big heart for helping others and an incredible degree of compassion and empathy for helping others. Their aim to help the homeless includes providing skilled support for substance abuse, educational direction, and overall therapy.
The network includes organisations from across different sectors that provide useful services for people who are homeless. As a trusted source of information, the local network set minimum standards around who is included – see our standards toolkit for information on the criteria we use in Manchester.
Dee Lowry, warehouse coordinator at GMHAN, said:
“All of us are facing unexpected challenges in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. However, for the thousands of people across Greater Manchester who are without a home, the struggle to survive is more serious than ever before.
“We’ve been working closely with people in the community, as well as frontline organisations to ensure that we’re meeting the needs of people who are homeless. As part of this vital work, we’ve received an overwhelming demand for the essential items included on our Live Needs List.
“We have been making great progress with the initiative, but the break in has set us back immensely, and the demand is bigger than ever and only expected to grow due to the economic consequences of Covid-19.
“We’re hoping that the people of Greater Manchester will come together to support people who are homeless through this difficult time.”