We are delighted to be throwing our support behind Liverpool homelessness charity The Whitechapel Centre’s October fundraising awareness campaign Socktober  by wearing fab and funky socks and getting our feet out.

The Socktober campaign encourages individuals, businesses and schools to wear some funky and fabulous socks on a day in October and make a donation to the charity. The Whitechapel Centre gives out over 7,000 pairs of socks each year to those in need and they’re an item rarely donated in new condition. Throughout the month we’ve got a box in reception which we’ll be filling with socks throughout the whole month, and our team will be putting their best feet forward every day.

Gaskells have been working with The Whitechapel Centre for several years, supporting them financially and also helping to raise awareness of the dangers of rough sleepers taking refuge in commercial bins. Our main truck on the Liverpool route is branded with The Whitechapel Centre’s logo and phone number and all our commercial bins have stickers warning of the dangers of sleeping in bins, along with the contact details for The Whitechapel Centre.

We’ve also fundraised for The Whitechapel Centre in some pretty weird and wacky ways in the past including having a pie off, a penalty shootout, taking part in the annual Liverpool Sleepout, and also arranging teams of businesses to compete in a bin truck pull at Aintree. This year, as with everything, all these events have been impacted, meaning we’re having to look at different ways to fundraise and raise awareness, so  Socktober is right up our street and it allows all our staff to get involved, whether it;s our drivers who are out and about, our teams in the office, or even our staff working from home and holding virtual meetings.

Julianna Petkovic, fundraiser for The Whitechapel Centre said: “The Whitechapel Centre is delighted that Gaskells are taking part in our Socktober campaign! 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. Teams from Gaskells have consistently taken part in lots of our events, that unfortunately due to Covid-19 can’t run as normal this year. So it’s great they are on board to have a socktastic time.”

How your fundraising will help:

£5 – fresh underwear and socks for someone sleeping rough

£15 – an advice session with one of our skilled workers, securing accommodation for someone who would otherwise sleep rough.

£25 – a tutor and materials for a structured training session, giving homeless people essential life skills

We really would urge as many businesses as possible to sign up and get involved in this campaign. It’s fun, and you’ve be helping to make a huge difference to some of the most vulnerable people in our society

Click here for more information, and let’s sock it to them!