OUR CHARITY - WOOD STREET MISSION
Ghostly detectives are delighted to announce our new chosen Charity is Wood Street Mission. Having met with Wood Street we were amazed by the great work they do for Children and families around the Salford and Manchester area. We believe that Wood Street Mission is a great benefit to those in need, a Great Manchester Charity.
Ghostly Detectives will be working closely with Wood Street making donations from proceeds of ticket sales. We will also be holding Charity Ghost hunts and events in order to raise money for donations to Wood Street in the near future. Keep an eye on the website for future fundraising events and Ghost hunts.
We have compiled some key information below about Wood Street Mission for you to understand their work, aims and objectives. Feel free to visit their website via the link below and get involved.
Wood Street Mission, a Manchester based children’s charity, was founded in 1869 by local businessman Alfred Alsop to tackle poverty and deprivation faced by people living in the slums in and around the Deansgate area of Victorian Manchester. For over 140 years Wood Street’s work has continually evolved to meet the changing needs of the people it supports.
In the early years Wood Street clothed and fed hungry children, gave free room and board to homeless men and boys, and provided toys and food for children at Christmas. From the 1890’s until the 1950’s Wood Street ran a holiday camp at Blackpool and gave thousands of impoverished inner city children their first, and in many cases only, summer holiday. In the 1960’s and ‘70’s Wood Street ran youth clubs and sports facilities for young people. For the past 30 years we have concentrated our efforts solely on the needs of children and their families in Manchester and Salford.
Today we offer practical help by providing immediate relief with basic items such as clothing, bedding, items of baby equipment, toys and children’s books. We distribute chocolate treats at Eastertime and new toys for children at Christmas. We also provide each family with a food hamper during both these holiday periods to help with increased costs of living during these extended school holidays.
Our vision is that no child in Manchester and Salford should live a life in poverty. To help prevent future poverty we are committed to working with the families we help to ensure their children engage in education. Only with these life skills will they be able to live an independent life as adults. This we help by providing new school uniform each summer in time for the new school year to those children who would otherwise not have any uniform to go to school with. Wood Street also hosts Children’s Book Clubs in each school holiday to try and encourage children to read more. They can select books to take home and keep. This is Wood Street’s commitment to the Government’s Every Child a Reader campaign introduced 2 years ago.
In 2010 we helped almost 14,000 local children and adults, all of whom are affected by poverty. Wood Street’s work is as relevant today as ever, with the recent Save The Children report (23rd February 2010) highlighting Manchester as having the highest level of child poverty in the UK. Without the support of donors we would not be able to help as many people as we do. Thank you.
You can visit wood street mission on www.woodstreetmission.org.uk or email info@woodstreetmission.org.uk
