More than 7,000 boxes filled with presents were donated to the Christmas Gift Box Appeal for Manchester’s Homeless, set up on Facebook by 26-year-old Charlotte Ferguson
Hundreds of homeless people across Greater Manchester will wake up to a gift this Christmas following an overwhelming response to an online campaign.
More than 7,000 boxes filled with presents were donated to the Christmas Gift Box Appeal for Manchester’s Homeless, set up on Facebook by 26-year-old Charlotte Ferguson.
The teaching assistant, who lives in New Moston, launched the campaign with a view to collecting a few hundred boxes and says she has been left gobsmacked by the support she’s received, reports the Manchester Evening News .
Charlotte said: “I set up the appeal off my own back thinking it would be nice to go down on Christmas Day and hand out the gifts to people who won’t be getting any this Christmas.
“I’ve volunteers in soup kitchens before and decided it was time to give back, we take all our lives and we need to appreciate what we have.”
People were asked to fill the boxes with toiletries and food items – anything that they would like for Christmas themselves.
Because of the sheer volume of donations, Charlotte has had to join forces with Manchester-based organisation Lifeshare to distribute them.
She added: “Lifeshare have helped get them out to different homeless charities and groups in Manchester such as Coffee4Craig, Shelter, The Booth Centre and Hulme Library, as well as at the Stock Exchange and Salvation Army, and various churches and hospitals.
Hundreds of homeless people across Greater Manchester will wake up to a gift this Christmas following an overwhelming response to an online campaign.
More than 7,000 boxes filled with presents were donated to the Christmas Gift Box Appeal for Manchester’s Homeless, set up on Facebook by 26-year-old Charlotte Ferguson.
The teaching assistant, who lives in New Moston, launched the campaign with a view to collecting a few hundred boxes and says she has been left gobsmacked by the support she’s received, reports the Manchester Evening News .
Charlotte said: “I set up the appeal off my own back thinking it would be nice to go down on Christmas Day and hand out the gifts to people who won’t be getting any this Christmas.
“I’ve volunteers in soup kitchens before and decided it was time to give back, we take all our lives and we need to appreciate what we have.”
People were asked to fill the boxes with toiletries and food items – anything that they would like for Christmas themselves.
Because of the sheer volume of donations, Charlotte has had to join forces with Manchester-based organisation Lifeshare to distribute them.
She added: “Lifeshare have helped get them out to different homeless charities and groups in Manchester such as Coffee4Craig, Shelter, The Booth Centre and Hulme Library, as well as at the Stock Exchange and Salvation Army, and various churches and hospitals.
