Stockport Lamplighter recently worked alongside the new satellite club of Cheadle Royal to collect coats etc for the Wrap Up Greater Manchester campaign. And what a wonderful campaign it was !

In total 2934 items of warm clothing were collected including hats, scarves, gloves, warm winter coats and waterproofs.

Co-ordinated by Linda Mullins from Lamplighter ( below ) over 16 Rotarians were active in the programme, amassing a total of 145.5 service hours.
Lamplighter Richard Hardman sought out a homeless man sleeping rough in Stockport to discuss the campaign with him and was heartened when so many waterproofs were collected as that is what the guy indicated was needed.

The clothing was distributed to many local charities ( The Wythenshaw Family Centre, Plymouth Gr Women’s Shelter, The Well, M.A.S.H and The Olive Drop Inn Stockport amongst others ) with the bulk of it going to Loaves and Fishes, a charity based at Stockport Baptist Church where the outreach worker spends time each evening feeding and helping groups of homeless people in the area as well as providing support to many others , including refugees, in the locality.

Ed Leavy and Steve Hough from the church were presented with a cheque for their work when they gave a most enlightening talk at Lamplighter a few weeks previous. Ed spent a lot of time collecting the sorted clothes from the storage unit, some of which he will keep and deliver during the harsh winter months.

This campaign was Rotary at it’s best, working with and for the community. Local shops happily took the large clothing collection boxes and even the Golf Club where Lamplighters meet asked to become involved.
We’ll continue to work with Loaves and Fishes in the future as this is such a fantastic project