How you can help ensure nobody needs to return to rough sleeping after lockdown

The last few months have seen an extraordinary public health response to help people who were sleeping rough or in shelters get off the streets and into hotels and other accommodation. 

More than 250 people have been helped, with 240 people still in hotel-type accommodation and 20 others found new housing.

Everyone who has been accommodated on an emergency basis through the coronavirus response will have a personalised plan developed with them. Work is taking place to extend some of the current accommodation and to support others into private rented accommodation.

But with government funding ending this month, the council wants to ensure nobody needs to return to the street. 

Giving directly to people who are begging is widely recognised as being counterproductive by acting as a barrier to them accessing the help and support available.

This is where donations to Big Change MCR can really help. 

Big Change is a group of Manchester charities, organisations and voluntary sector agencies which have come together to tackle homelessness in the city and help those sleeping rough to get off the streets.

Big Change MCR gets your donations to the people who need most help, getting those sleeping rough into housing, rather than just helping them to survive on the streets. 

Big Change can help fund deposits, bonds and moving packages to help people into homes. This targeted support helps people break the cycle of homelessness, in a way that giving to people who are begging can never achieve. 

100% of donations to Big Change MCR are used to fund activities that tackle individual homelessness.

Anyone in Manchester who is at risk of losing their accommodation should visit www.manchester.gov.uk/homelessness for more details about the help available.

Donate now