That’s a wrap for 2023!
2023. What. A. Year.
This has been a year of change, of action, and of visibility for Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity and we are so thankful to all of you for the parts you have played. We exist to support the frontline organisations working to tackle homelessness and end the need for rough sleeping. So many of them depend on the funding we offer and our role to amplify their work, their achievements, and our collective call for change. We applaud them, and everything they do. And we thank you, because without you, none of that is possible.
2023 was a challenging year for fundraising – likely something we and all charities will continue to face as the cost of living remains high. But, our new calendar of events and campaigns have had real impact. We began the year with a wonderful gig from Liam Fray as he raised the roof (and £25K!) for a second time and ended it with a return of Manchester Baroque’s magical performance of Handel’s Messiah at Manchester Cathedral. The months in between may have taken a rest from the music, but there was no let up in the fundraising!
Our first ever annual dinner was an incredible success, thanks to all our delivery partners and sponsors: Artorius, Jen Harrison Construction Ltd, Deloitte, Spaces & Stories, GigPig, Gooey and Elevate. We had such a great time at New Century that we’re returning next year – put 7th March 2024 in your diary for another evening with us and our patron, Andy Burnham. If you’re interested in sponsoring this event, please get in touch to discuss packages. Over the summer, we took teams inside Manchester Central to pull bee network buses, and launched the regions’ biggest ever sponsored walk, Circle Home, alongside champion partners Salford Red Devils and the team at GM Ringway. RunWild also returned for the 5th year running (!), raising nearly £26k on their now annual 24 hour race against homelessness.
To mark World Homeless Day, children from schools in Greater Manchester showed us exactly how important home was to them, creating some incredibly moving artwork with the best entries displayed at an exclusive exhibition inside Contemporary Six. Thank you to the gallery and Alex Reuben for hosting, and to Microsoft for sponsoring. And finally, the winter months of the year have concluded with a festive crafting campaign alongside yarn institution, Black Sheep Wools, and the return of our winter campaign – 1000 Beds for Christmas 2023.
Our fundraising is central to what we do, but there are some other wins and highlights to reflect on too. Not only have we refreshed our brand and launched a new website (thank you to Cornerstone Design and Marketing, and Capital and Centric for their roles and support in this), we have also gained recognition for some of our fundraising events and the work of our team.
Our 2022 DJ Battle won Leading Live Event at the This Is Manchester Awards (tickets on sale now for the return match!), and the team have been shortlisted for ‘Team of the Year’ at Made in Manchester 2024. Our CEO, Fran, was also celebrated as a top 10 Northern Game Changer with Elevate, and won ‘Agent of Change’ in the Manchester Young Talent Awards. We are proud of the recognition of our work. This is what gives us the platform to do more.
That platform is amplified further by the networking and awareness raising events we have championed in 2023. Through these, we work to increase visibility of our work and that of those we fund. We joined a coalition of over 100 charities campaigning for a national strategy to end youth homelessness, launched a policy roundtable series with the first two for 2024 already scheduled, launched a business leaders roundtable co-hosted with Microsoft, and are planning the second event for the new year with another corporate partner. We’ve also been visiting our charity partners, and you will have seen some of the videos and stories coming from them. The funds you help us raise really do have incredible impact. 2023 also saw us become partners of the Business Growth Hub and start our journey with the Good Employment Charter, currently as supporters but looking forward to applying for full membership in 2024.
Thank you to the many businesses across the region, big and small, who have donated to our work, supported our events whether as attendees, partners or sponsors, helped amplify our messaging, and advocated for us. Thank you to Together for returning as matched funder for the winter campaign, and to our lead supporters SUEZ and JC Decaux.
As we look to next year, there is plenty to get behind. You can buy tickets now for DJ Battle II – heading to Liverpool’s Camp and Furnace on 02.02.24, sign up for the first our new challenge series for 2024, get in touch to discuss supporting our dinner (07.03.24) or to discuss what other ways we can work together to achieve change.
How ever you choose to support us, we welcome you. Together, we can end homelessness.
From all at Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity,
A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Fran, Laura, Frankie and Louise x