Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity launches

The new Greater Manchester’s Mayor’s Charity has been launched by its Patron, Andy Burnham, at a speech in central Manchester.

Focussed on raising money for the issues people care about in Greater Manchester, the independent charity will initially look at helping to reduce homelessness. One of the projects it will support is Bed Every Night, set up to help deliver the Mayor’s ambition to end the need for rough sleeping in our city region.

The charity has taken over from the Mayor's Homelessness Fund, launched two years ago as the Mayor took office. More than £640,000 has been raised, with £96,000 given out to support Bed Every Night and help people get off the streets. Any unallocated money from the Mayor's Homelessness Fund has now been transferred to the charity and the fund closed down.

The charity’s Trustees come from of a mix of public and private sector backgrounds with a blend of skills, who represent the community which the charity hopes to serve. Together, they will share the responsibility for governing the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity and directing how it is managed and run.

Capital and Centric’s CEO, Tim Heatley, will chair the Trustee Board alongside a board that includes retired athlete and sports charity founder Diane Modahl, Manchester Methodist Central Hall’s Minister, Rev. Ian Rutherford and PWC Partner, Jane Forbes.

Tim Heatley said: “I’m very pleased to be appointed chair of the new Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity which will play a key role as the city-region comes together to tackle homelessness.

“While this is our initial focus, and particularly supporting Bed Every Night, we will also set out to tackle social issues and support vulnerable members of our community. I’m looking forward to working with our fantastic trustee board and harnessing their skills and expertise as we face these big challenges head on.”

Charity Patron, Andy Burnham, added: “In Greater Manchester we don’t walk by on the other side. It was people here who demanded that as a city-region we tackled the issue of homelessness and rough sleeping head on, and we have.  But I know people want to do more and this charity will now give us all a focal point where we can direct our efforts and make a real difference.

“Greater Manchester’s A Bed Every Night scheme has been a real success with more than 1,400 individuals supported off the streets in just half a year.  Around 480 people, more than a third, have also been assisted into more secure accommodation.  The Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity will now play a vital role in helping this work progress to its next stage.”

Find out more on the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity's new website:

• www.gmmayorscharity.co.uk

The Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is an independent charity which was registered with the Charity Commission on 23 October 2018 (charity no. 180418) and launched in April 2019.

While initially supporting initiatives to tackle homelessness, the charity has broad objectives which allow the Trustees to support other charitable causes as they see fit.  These objectives include tackling social issues and supporting vulnerable members of our community.

Full list of Trustees:

• Tim Heatley, co-founder of Capital &Centric - Chair
• Liz Treacy - GMCA Monitoring Officer
• Rev Ian Rutherford, City Centre Minister, Methodist Central Hall Manchester
• Jane Forbes, Partner at PWC
• Beth Knowles, Chair of With One Voice
• Diane Modahl MBE, Retired athlete and co-founder of the Diane Modahl Sports Foundation
• Sharon Jones, former Head of Funding at The National Lottery Community Fund
• Mike Perls, Co-founder of MC2
• Dr. Kailash Chand, chair of the Northwest BMA council
• Beth Houghton, Partner at Palatine Private Equity & Head of Palatine’s Impact Fund