More than £25,000 has been raised for homeless charity – The Brick – thanks to a partnership with Wigan Athletic.
The money raised since The Brick became the club’s official charity of the season last September has come from a series of events, from collections on match days, auctions to players visiting The Brick’s foodbank to raise awareness and help to pack food parcels for people who face homelessness or poverty across Wigan.
Sam Morsy, Dan Burn and Will Grigg were among the stars to visit The Brick during the season.
Sam said: “Visiting The Brick was a real eye opener – before going along to hear about the services they provide for people in Wigan, I was not aware of how big the problem of homelessness was. I am pleased that the club and the fans got behind the partnership – the charity does an amazing job. A big thank you to everyone that has helped.”
The main fundraising event was held at the DW Stadium in April, the SleepOut saw 100 Wiganers swap their beds for sleeping bags for a night, from families, scout groups, businesses, and individuals, raising a total of £20,000 – with more money still coming in.
The club also hosted a Christmas hamper drive at Montrose Skills hub, with Latics’ Academy players joining a team of volunteers to provide more than 160 hampers that were distributed to people in need across the whole borough before Christmas Day.
Jonathan Jackson, Club Chief Executive at Latics – said: “We are delighted to have helped to raise so much money for a vital cause to help people living in Wigan borough that are facing homelessness, poverty or debt crisis.”
The charity provides a safe, solid building block for people in crisis to begin to construct a new life and become valuable members of society, and the money raised from the partnership will support people in Wigan borough from crisis intervention to mentoring and training opportunities.
Nick Brookes, business director, at The Brick, said: “We are overwhelmed with not only the amount of money that has been raised thanks to the partnership with Wigan Athletic, but the profile it has given to The Brick’s work to make sure no person in our community is left behind. I would like to thank everyone that has supported us over the season, it will make such a different to people’s lives in the borough, and we hope to continue to work with the fantastic community team and players at Latics.”