JSA Psychotherapy and Barnabus complete donations drive for Manchester homeless

At end of November we shared with you that we were organising a collection of food, clothes, toiletries and other essential supplies for the homeless population of Manchester. Following our efforts to do something similar last year, this time we decided it would be more effective to distribute the goods we collected through Manchester based charity Barnabus. 

Sadly, the need for help has turned out to be more important than ever this Christmas, with the despondent news published this week that fatality figures for homeless people have risen by 24 percent over the last five years. A catastrophic lack of supporting response from government services has exacerbated this terrible ongoing crisis, with those already worst off paying the ultimate price.

Thankfully, we received an overwhelming response to our request. We’ve seen a surge of generosity and consideration from the local community, with donations coming in from our neighbours in the business centre and as far afield as Briercliff and Helmshore. We mostly received bags of warm clothing, but many contributions of food and sanitary products were also made.

Once the assortment of boxes and bin bags were all gathered together, we delivered them directly to Barnabus’ Beacon drop in centre at 45 Bloom street in central Manchester. With any luck, they’ll help to make that crucial difference that’s so sorely needed this winter.

We really appreciate how keen everyone has been to get involved and make our contribution to helping safeguard some of the most vulnerable and unfairly neglected members of the community. Despite the apparent enormity of adversity posed by our society’s failings, you’ve been instrumental in making it known that we refuse to become disheartened in making a difference to look after those who need us.

Special thanks to Charlotte Hudson, Gary Mills, Jude Colbert and everyone in the office who donated.