by Ellie Murphy
As we all know, the past few months have been a bit of a whirlwind! Down at the Reach Out to The Community headquarters, however, we have been offering non-stop support for the homeless sector, whilst also coming up with innovative ways to raise money during lockdown. Last month, the charity’s efforts and perseverance through this hard time were recognised as we were honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
This week we will be celebrating the third Birthday of Reach Out Charity Shop, one of Chorlton’s finest gems. With our shop doors finally reopening to the public (still following government regulations), it will be extremely humbling to allow our supporters back through the door again.
We have a lot to be proud of: after years of support and encouragement, we’ve now expanded and provide more services to tackle homelessness and the issues that make an individual vulnerable. While we’ve struggled to optimise donations, due to the shop being closed, we’ve still been extremely grateful for all the hundreds of food and cash donations you’ve still made over the past few months.
As a team, we have really missed putting our heads together to create fabulous and fun fundraising events to raise our profile and increase income for the charity. Lots of us have missed out on birthday celebrations and cocktail hours at local bars, but we’ve been able instead to promote birthday fundraisers.
Sarah’s Birthday Bar included a £5 donation towards Reach Out To The Community. Additionally, we’ve had some great collaborations with the local businesses and community to encourage neighbours, friends and family to collect food bank donations. Local businesses, like The Wingman Chef have offered up culinary tips and advice from experienced chefs, in exchange for a small donation towards the charity.
As we see the gradual reopening of local establishments and businesses, we would still love for anyone to come up with some unique fundraising ideas.
Feel free to contact us on 0161 862 9415 or email us to have a chat or find out more.
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