Fundraising

Wood Street Mission is the only organisation in Greater Manchester to provide free clothing, bedding, baby equipment & toys to local underprivileged children, young people and families. Without our help the 1,000's of people referred to Wood Street for help every year would have to go without what most people would consider to be the bare essentials.

Imagine trying to cope on your own with twin toddlers when you can't afford a single buggy, let alone a double one. Imagine not being able to afford to buy toys for your kids at Christmas.

We need all the help we can get to be able to provide practical help to the growing number of families facing poverty in Manchester and Salford. Can you help us to raise vital funds?

Individual & Community Fundraising

Whether you're working on your own or as part of a group, there are many, many ways that you can raise vital funds for Wood Street Mission and have great fun at the same time! No matter how much money you raise, you'll have made a real, positive difference to the lives of local disadvantaged children & their families.

Here are just a few suggestions.

Get Sponsored! You could organise a sponsored event, like a fun run or bike ride, or even a parachute jump.
It doesn't have to be physical - you could raise sponsorship by giving something up, like TV, chocolate or even smoking. You could take part in a sponsored silence or hold a computer game marathon.
How about holding a quiz night and donating the entry fee to Wood Street Mission?
You could have a cake sale, tea morning or bring and buy sale and donate the proceeds to Wood Street.
Put on a performance - if you're in a band, theatre group or similar why not put on a show and raise funds that way?
Maybe you could hold a raffle or a bingo evening - local businesses may donate prizes for your event if you ask them nicely!
Break a record! Why not try to get into the Guinness Book of Records and raise money and awareness for Wood Street Mission at the same time? Make the world's biggest chocolate cake or try to beat the most cream crackers eaten in a minute - the possibilities are endless!
Perhaps you could get your work colleagues involved - see Corporate Fundraising for more details.

To help get you started we can supply sponsorship forms and posters on request. We can also promote your fundraising event through the website and in our quarterly newsletter. Please Contact Us for more details.

Don't forget - we always need donations of good quality clothing, toys etc. Perhaps you could organise a regular collection of goods from people in your local community or at work. Please see Donations of Goods for more information.

Corporate Support

Wood Street Mission was founded back in 1869 by a group of local businessmen who wanted to help the people living in terrible poverty in the Deansgate slums of Victorian Manchester. Today Deansgate is one of the most affluent areas of the city, but poverty continues to ruin lives in Greater Manchester and the support of local businesses remains absolutely vital to us in order to maintain our service to the 1,000's of people who come to us for help every year.

There are many benefits to companies that get involved with charities local to their place/s of business. Working in partnership with a local charity can boost staff morale, motivation and team development; create positive PR for the company and appeals to shareholders, customers, potential job applicants and the local community alike. Meanwhile the charity benefits from increased funds and/or promotion of their work. Everybody wins!

Wherever you work - in an office, restaurant, shop, premiership football club - there are lots of ways for your business to get involved and to give something back to the community in which you operate. From promoting our Clothing Appeal in the staff newsletter, to organising fundraising events on our behalf, or even adopting Wood Street Mission as your Charity of the Year - there are different ways to get involved that will suit the needs and resources of your business.

Financial Support

Corporate donations to Wood Street Mission have helped us to expand our operations so that we can now provide a better quality service to a greater number of disadvantaged children & families than ever before.

If your company is considering supporting Wood Street Mission in this way, just look how many local people could benefit:

£250 could buy brand new toys for more than 50 children at Christmas.
£1000 would be enough to provide practical help to 10 families for a whole year, including food and gifts at Christmas time.
£2500 would be enough to provide a years worth of practical help for 100 children, including gifts at Christmas.

Every donation, no matter the, size will make a real, positive difference to local children, young people and families in need.

Employee Fundraising

Here are just a few ideas of how you and your colleagues could raise vital funds to provide practical help to the 1,000's of local children, young people and families who are affected by poverty in Manchester & Salford:

Is your place of work open to the public or do you have a busy reception area, cafeteria or customer desk? Perhaps you could take one of our collection boxes so that people can donate their spare change to Wood Street. Every penny helps!
If you work in an office how about holding a 'dress down day' or similar to raise funds?
Get Running! Maybe you could enter a company team in the Manchester 10K or the Great North Run. Your business contacts could be a great source of sponsorship!
Is the boss a good sport? Pop them in the 'stocks' and charge staff a fee for the privilege of throwing wet sponges at them!
Raffles, lotteries, competitions and quizzes - all fantastic ways to raise money from your colleagues and associates!
Will your employer provide Match Funding? This means that any money raised for charity by the staff is matched by the company - doubling the donation. Talk to the personnel department at your company to find out more.

For more ideas see Individual & Community Fundraising.

Please get in touch and let us know of any fundraising ideas that you want to try out.

Don't forget - we always need donations of good quality clothing, toys etc. Perhaps you could organise a regular collection of goods from people at work. Please see Donations of Goods for more information.

Gifts in Kind

We always need donations of the goods we distribute to families in need (please see Donations of Goods for more details) but donations of some other items can still be very useful to our work. Perhaps your place of business could donate prizes for raffles or auctions, or maybe goods such as IT equipment or storage units to help us improve our operations.

Please Contact Us if you wish to discuss any possible donations.

Cause Related Marketing

Cause Related Marketing (CRM) is a fundraising or commercial activity between a charity and a business which aims to market a brand, product or service.

This type of partnership between a business and a charity can be hugely beneficial in terms of positive promotion and in boosting the revenue of both parties. The vast majority of consumers respond much more positively to companies and products affiliated with good causes. CRM is one of the most cost effective ways to advertise a company brand or product.

If you would like to discuss any potential joint marketing ideas involving your business and Wood Street Mission please contact either Jan O'Connor or Rachel Bywater.