A Manchester homeless charity are appealing for funding to enable them to get a vehicle on the road and help more people across the city.
The Manchester Angels, run by Wesley Hall, help to keep people safe in the city centre at night and was set up following the death of Stockport teenager Adam Pickup in 2013.
Wesley is hoping to secure £5,000 in order to make full use of a Mercedes eight-seater van that was recently donated to the charity, ensuring that he doesn’t have to rely on lifts to travel around and help people.
“I’ve been stubborn long enough and I’m now at breaking point,” Wesley told MM.
“I can’t keep asking people for lifts on a daily basis and it’s draining all my resources walking everywhere and paying for public transport.
“What little income I manage to get, I’m spending on facilitating the projects I’m running and rarely have much to keep myself healthy.
“I’m setting up a gofundme campaign so that I won’t ever have to ask anyone for a lift again.”
The 31-year-old, who also helps run ‘Help the Homeless’ in East Lancashire, requires the funding to pay for driving lessons, vehicle insurance for both himself and other volunteers, road tax and general vehicle maintainance.
He explained that having his own transport would only benefit those living rough on the streets, due to the charity being able to operate on more nights of the week.
“I could do so much more if I wasn’t dependent on anyone,” he said.
“When people sadly can’t help out, it leaves us in a bad predicament where I’m spending a whole day trying to find alternatives and I’m missing out on many meetings because of this.
“It’s the only way I can see a resolution to the daily dilemmas I face because I have no other income.”
Wes explained that the funding would eventually lead to street kitchens ‘popping up’ over the city during winter as part of #OpSafeWinter, providing soup and hot drinks to those in need.
He also revealed that he would be able to transport donations of clothing a lot more easily.
“If you’d be willing to help us make this happen and please donate what you can afford,” he said.
“The number of people sleeping rough in Greater Manchester has risen by nearly 50% in a year according to council statistics, however we’re aware that these yearly audits don’t show a true reflection of how many homeless people there are in the city.”
You can donate to the Manchester Angels’ gofundme campaign here.
And you can find out more information about the Manchester Angels on their Facebook page by clicking here.
