£3,000 Donation To Support City Charities This Christmas

Three local charities in Manchester are set to receive an equal share of £3,000 this Christmas, as part of one local law firm’s tradition of relieving poverty and suffering during the festive season.

Contact; akt (formerly Albert Kennedy Trust) and Wood Street Mission will each receive £1,000 as a share of the £39,000 set aside for charities by the Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation (IMCF)

A charity that has donated more than £2 million to good causes since it was established in 1997, the IMCF has a tradition of allowing Irwin Mitchell regional offices to nominate local charities they wish to see receive a special Christmas donation.

In 2018, £13,000 was donated to homeless charities by the IMCF and with the amount tripled for 2019 three local charities were chosen for support by Irwin Mitchell Manchester office staff.

Nominated by Zoe Donohue, Wood Street Mission has been helping children and families in Salford and Manchester on low incomes since 1869. While they run a number of initiatives throughout the year, their Christmas appeal remains their busiest time of the year.

More than just a place to stay, Contact has been providing a hostel as a home for vulnerable young homeless women aged 16-19 in the Manchester area since 1970.

The third charity receiving £1,000 is national LGBT youth homelessness charity, akt. Nominated by Nathan Lloyd, the charity was set up in Manchester in 1989 by former foster carer Cath Hall, and in 30 years, has provided over 250,000 nights off the street and supported over 50,000 LGBT young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Claire Linacre, individual giving manager at akt, said: “Once homeless, LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to experience violence, discrimination, substance abuse problems and exploitation, than their non-LGBT peers. It’s the busiest time of year for our services team, and this £1,000 donation means we can be there for more young people who can’t go home this winter”.

Alison Cordingley, Fundraiser at Contact Hostel, said: “We are all grateful to Irwin Mitchell for nominating us. Over three years, 84 vulnerable young women will be accommodated and supported, with 44 reaching their maximum potential and moving on to independent or semi-independent living, with 33 sustaining a long-term tenancy. £1,000 will be a massive help in delivering this.”

Sophie, from Wood Street Mission, said: “For the families that we support, every day is a struggle and Christmas is a time for making difficult choices with additional stress and worry. Thanks to this donation from Irwin Mitchell, we can take some of that worry away, and help to make Christmas special for thousands of local children.”

Expert Opinion

“With the sum we can give to local charities tripled, we wanted to help as many deserving local causes as we could. A donation was given to akt last Christmas and the fact they and Wood Street Mission are Charity of the Year nominees, shows what high regard they are held in by our staff.

Contact do amazing work supporting young homeless women in Greater Manchester, Wood Street Mission help Children and their families, while akt work to tackle youth homelessness among some of the most marginalised in our society.

By supporting all three, we are playing our part in helping to confront some of the most pressing problems faced by young women and children in the community in which we live and work and see that everyone in our local area can feel something of the festive spirit this Christmas.” Ros Bever - Partner