THE citywide Manchester Beer Week enjoyed a hugely successful second year. On the back of this the festival has launched an appeal to raise vital funds for homeless aid network Street Support.
They are hoping to tap into the social conscience of the thousands of beer lovers who attended more than 100 events between June 23 and July 2 and to have an impact on the wider community.
The appeal aims to help Street Support fund a GROW trainee – someone with personal experience of homelessness who can work with those sleeping rough to ensure they get the support they need.
And if donations to the appeal reach £1,000, organisers have pledged to match this with an equivalent donation, doubling the total to £2,000. Currently, the amount raised is just over £400 and the initial deadline for donations has been extended to August 20.
To add an extra incentive, people in the beer community have rallied round to donate a series of exciting rewards for people who donate. These include a £50 gift voucher for highly-rated restaurant Bundobust and cases of beer from Marble Brewery and Joseph Holt.
The winners of these prizes will be chosen at random from all those who donate as part of the appeal. Full details of how to donate and take part are here.
“We feel it's really important that our festival doesn't sit in splendid isolation, so we wanted to ensure it makes a positive contribution to the wider community in which it exists,” said Connor Murphy, organiser of Manchester Beer Week.
“Anybody who lives in Manchester knows homelessness is currently a huge issue and we want to do what we can, however small, to make a difference and help those in need get the support they require.”
Street Support Network is a central online resource around homelessness in cities –currently available in Greater Manchester and Leeds. It has a simple mission: to make it easier for people who are homeless to get the help they need.
- The Manchester Beer Week Awards, voted for by many of the folk below who attended this year’s event will be handed out at The Marble Arch pub on Rochdale Road on Monday, August 22.
