That’s a wrap for 2025! Thank you, Greater Manchester.

As we enter a new year, we want to begin by sharing our thanks and reflecting on the impact you helped create in 2025.  

2025 has been an incredible year of action, fundraising and support for our cause: a city-region where no one has to spend a night on the streets and everyone has a place to call home. This year, your support provided grants to six organisations alongside our flagship scheme, A Bed Every Night and continuing support to the Greater Manchester Homelessness Action Network. None of this would be possible without you. You have enabled us to continue acting as a lifeline to organisations working on the frontline of the homelessness and housing crisis. 

But 2025 was also a year of significant challenge. Rough sleeping in England increased, rising to an estimated 8,732 people over the month of June, a 5% increase since last year. The number of households in temporary accommodation also reached a record high, with more than 132,000 households across England, including over 172,000 children. Combined with continued financial strain for charities, businesses and households, demand is rising across the region and the need for collaborative action is more urgent than ever. 

Yet it is a challenge we have stood up to together. 

Our events calendar was bigger and more ambitious than ever. The Gala Dinner returned to New Century, doubling previous fundraising to raise £40,000. The Bus Pull came back with more teams and more strength than before. And the 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness reached new records thanks to Thomas Lewis, James Bannister and the 120+ volunteers who brought the event to life. This year’s run raised more than £70,000 from over 1,000 incredible runners, despite the heavy downpour! 

We also brought back our much-loved GREATer Manchester Pub Quiz, hosted by Jimmy Page from XI Records. Team GMMC took on the CEO Sleepout, trading their beds for sleeping bags to spend a night under the stars. To close the year, our 1,000 Beds for Christmas campaign faced its toughest challenge yet, with emergency accommodation costs rising to £32 per night. But Greater Manchester once again showed its generosity, smashing the target with the support of Together, who topped up donations up to £20,000.  

Our events are made possible by every single person who takes part, volunteers, fundraises or supports from the sidelines. A special mention goes to our sponsors, venue hosts and partners, whose generosity ensures these events can happen. 

Alongside our fundraising, we continued our Policy Roundtable series, bringing together leaders from housing, construction, sport, local government and the VCFSE sector to address key questions around delivery, prevention and long-term solutions for ending homelessness. 

All of this work is driven by a single purpose: to direct funds into initiatives, programmes and organisations that deliver real impact. From our ongoing support of A Bed Every Night to the six frontline grants awarded through our Spring/Summer Small Grants programme and our support to GMHAN, our commitment remains clear: to channel local resources into local need. 

This year we also strengthened our leadership by welcoming three new trustees and launching our new Associate Board. Aydin Djemal, Lori Hoinkes and Rachel Chesters each bring fresh insight and expertiseto shape the charity’s future. Joining our Associate Board, and building their skills to become charity trustees of tomorrow, are Ali Roberts, Amy Harrowsmith and Archie Burrows. They’ve already challenged our thinking, showed huge support to our fundraising, and begun to develop ideas for roundtables. They are a testament to the value of young leadership development programmes.  

After 3 years with us, our CEO, Fran Darlington-Pollock will be leaving in January of 2026. Since joining in 2022, she has played a key role in developing our work and building strong relationships across Greater Manchester. From the new policy roundtables and panel series to our growing portfolio of grants, we are thankful for everything Fran have contributed and look forward to our next chapter as a charity. 

Thank you to Together for their continued support of our Winter Campaign and of the 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness. Thank you to all our Charity of the Year partners, our corporate supporters, our fundraisers and everyone who has stood with us this year. 

We are now welcoming new Charity of the Year partners for 2026. If your organisation is looking to make a meaningful contribution to ending homelessness in the city-region, we would love to speak with you. 

2026 is already shaping up to be a big year, and we hope you will be part of it. We are kicking things off with our 2026 Gala Dinner, held at Diecast. Join us for an evening of live entertainment, great food and celebration with purpose. Book your table today. 

If you would like to learn more about working with us or to chat about any of our upcoming events, please get in touch. 

A very Happy New Year from the team. 

Together, we can end homelessness.