Middleton men start new initiative to help homeless with ambition of becoming registered charity

Two men from Middleton have founded a new initiative to help Manchester’s homeless as they embark on becoming a registered charity.

Jamie Lilley, 32, and Daniel Goodier, 30, set up Cold Hands Warm Hearts around two months ago in the middle of winter, after hearing about the tragic death of a 25-year-old man who sadly died when sleeping rough in Manchester city centre.

The organisation aims to make sure no rough sleepers or homeless in Manchester go hungry or without the essentials.

Jamie said: “Daniel called me after seeing a news article about the young lad who died outside M&S [in Manchester] and said ‘we need to do something to help'.”

 

 

The very next night, Jamie, Daniel and their friend, Michael Donoghue, went to a local takeaway in Middleton, spending £90 on pizza which they then handed out to homeless people in Manchester city centre.

Jamie added: “We ended up with 23 boxes of pizzas to go and hand out. We split these in half and they went within 15 minutes of us being there.

“We spoke to them and asked what else they needed. They asked us for pot noodles, coffee, boxers, sanitary towels, gloves and scarves, sleeping bags, handwarmers and trainers.”

Knowing they couldn’t just walk away, Jamie and Daniel returned two days later with donations of coats, cold drinks, a 5-litre flask of hot drink, plus more hot food from local Middleton takeaways.

 

 

“Once again though, these items lasted no more than 15 minutes, so we vowed to do more,” Jamie continued.

Jamie and Daniel then decided to reach out to the local community for support, creating a Facebook page for their cause.

Jamie added: “We now have almost 1,900 people following [the page] within a month, and we have had a reach of over 60,000 with in the last 28 days.

“We have now a team of 18 volunteers.”

The men have been supported by Ian Donatello’s takeaway in Middleton, which has donated 15 pizzas each time the group has gone out, even agreeing to pay for a storage unit to store all the donations before being given out, as well as a number of other small businesses and 'some big investors such as McVities, Howden’s and Chubb'.

However, to be able to access more help, the pair need to become a registered charity – by showing they can earn £5,000 in a year to prove they are a fundraising organisation.

Jamie explained: “Once I get five minutes into the call, they ask for my charity number, which at the moment we do not have and that’s why we’re trying to raise the funds to become a charity.

“I feel like we’ve got a treasure chest full of gold, but no key to open it. The only way we can open that treasure chest is to get that charity number and then we will then be able to use the funding to help bring so much more.”

To achieve this goal, Cold Hands Warm Hearts has launched a fundraiser – which has so far raised over £3,000 of its £5,000 target.

Jamie added: “I feel the main goal that we are looking for and the goal that we are working towards is just to try and feed as many people as we can. We have already had some interest from people in Dublin and people in London who want to do the same and use our organisation name.

“Not only would Cold Hands Warm Hearts be feeding the homeless of Manchester, we would be feeding the homeless of Dublin and London. Eventually, we will be looking at getting more teams in place to cover the likes of Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham and all over the UK.”

To support Cold Hands Warm Hearts and donate, please visit their JustGiving page here:

• www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/coldhandswarmhearts