We’re delighted to announce we’re stepping up our support for homelessness charity The Whitechapel Centre by becoming main sponsors of their annual Sleepout.
The sleepout takes place on Friday the 11th October in St James in the City churchyard and will see hundreds of people swapping their beds for sleeping bags and cardboard boxes to raise money to continue the charity’s work to end homelessness in Liverpool. The event regularly raises over £40,000 but putting it on doesn’t come cheap as there are costs such as security and catering which have to be taken into account. This is why we’ve decided have decided to step in, to ensure more of the money raised on the night goes to the people who need it.
We’ve worked in partnership with The Whitechapel Centre for two years, supporting them financially and also helping to raise awareness of the dangers of rough sleepers taking refuge in commercial bins, which in some tragic cases in the past has ended with fatal consequences. Our main truck on the Liverpool route is branded with The Whitechapel Centre’s logo and phone number and all their commercial bins have stickers on, warning of the dangers of sleeping in bins along with the contact details for The Whitechapel Centre. We also actively fundraise for The Whitechapel Centre and last year raised more than £10,000 with a number of events including a bin truck pull at Aintree, a pie-off, and swear boxes in the office (turning the air blue for a good cause!!).
A family run firm, with strong values, we’re committed to supporting worthwhile charities, and as a local company, chose to provide financial support to The Whitechapel Centre, whose hard work and dedication to helping homeless people is incredible.
Julianna Petkovic, fundraiser for The Whitechapel Centre said: “The Whitechapel Centre is delighted to announce that Gaskells are the sponsor for our Liverpool Sleepout 2019! The Whitechapel Centre and Gaskells have a fantastic partnership and we have been working closely together to raise awareness and fundraise for the last few years. A team from Gaskells have consistently taken part in the Sleepout over the last few years, so who better to sponsor us than a company who has first-hand experience of the event? We would like to extend a huge thank you to Gaskells, as this generous sponsorship allows even more of the money raised from the Sleepout to go directly to our services, helping us to end homelessness for people throughout the Liverpool City region.”
Our Commercial Director Denise Banks said “Homelessness is an issue which is very close to our hearts as our drivers see people sleeping on the streets every single day, which is why we’ve been working with The Whitechapel Centre for the past few years. We’ve seen first-had the work they do at their centres and have also been joined on our Liverpool truck by Russ, one of the outreach workers. Some of our staff have even swapped their bed for sleeping bags and taken part in the Liverpool Sleepout for the past two years, which was a real eye opener, and has made us want to get more involved this year. We’re proud to be sponsors for The Whitechapel centre Liverpool Sleepout 2019, as it’s a fantastic event which raises thousands of pounds for some of the most vulnerable people in our society, but the cost of putting it on cannot be underestimated. We’re confident our support this year will ensure more of the money raised on the night will go to the people who really need it, so we’re absolutely delighted. Gaskells will once again be helping with the clean up after the event and getting a team together to take part. We’re all really looking forward to it and would urge as many people as possible to sign up – it’s a great night, and for such a worthwhile cause”.