FC United welcomes the homeless to our home on Christmas Day.

FC United’s Broadhurst Park football ground will open on Christmas Day to help provide some Christmas comforts to the homeless in Manchester.

FC United’s Broadhurst Park football ground will open on Christmas Day to help provide some Christmas comforts to the homeless in Manchester.

Over 30 volunteers together with FC United players and coaching staff will be helping out on Christmas Day, and we would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who is willing to give up their Christmas Day to help others.

We would also like to say a huge thank you to the FC United players who served up food to the homeless on Thursday 23rd December in Manchester city centre in conjunction with SPIN (Supporting People In Need).

We would also like to thank all those who kindly donated Toys for children and families who may struggle at this time of year. The Frost Foundation, who we are working in partnership with, collected a huge amount of Toys from Broadhurst Park this week.

Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming response to our Christmas Day initiative, we are no longer in a position to accept any further assistance or food donations.

We would however like to highlight our Big Coat Day initiative as a way that people can assist the homeless in Manchester. On Sunday 1st January 2017 at our home fixture against Altrincham we will be collecting warm clothing and shoes which will be distributed to four homeless charities in Manchester.

CHRISTMAS DAY AT FC UNITED

At Broadhurst Park on Christmas Day, toiletries and towels will be provided to allow everyone the opportunity to have a hot shower, and we’ll also be cooking up a hearty breakfast in the function room which overlooks the pitch. In addition, there will also be a range of activities available including Table Football, Table Tennis, Pool, XBOX, PS4 and various arts and crafts to bring some Christmas cheer to those attending.

A minibus, funded and driven by an FC United supporter, will pick people up from Piccadilly Gardens at 8.30am, 9.15am, 10am, 10.45am, 11.30am and 12.15pm and drop them back off in Manchester afterwards.

Andy Cheshire, FC United’s Community and Education Manager, who has been working to turn this idea into a reality explains:

“The idea derived from a conversation with Lifeshare who are our partners for our annual Big Coat Day collection, where FC United supporters and wider public donate warm clothing for the homeless. Lifeshare open their offices on Christmas Day but they have limited facilities for the homeless to take a shower.

"I immediately thought that we should use our facility, as not only have we changing and shower facilities here at Broadhurst Park, we also have a large function room, kitchen facilities and access to a range of activities. I liaised with Lisa Roddy at Rough Sleepers Initiatives to get the message around the city and already the response has been very positive.???

FC United’s Kitman, Mike Norton, has sourced towels from his work, which have been kindly funded by the North Manchester Sports and Activity Forum. The Midland Hotel has also donated 20 towels and L’Oreal have donated toiletries. Two local hairdressers have offered cut people’s hair for free and we have also received offers of help from four local nurses.

The club has also be overwhelmed by the amount of food that has been donated too.

Thank you once again to everyone who has donated toys, warm clothing and food, and to those who have given up their time to help others. Thanks also to everyone who has helped to spread the word via various social media channels.

Your support is very much appreciated.

THANK YOU




BIG COAT DAY – Sunday 1st January

On Sunday 1st January 2017 when FC United play Altrincham at home, we will once again be hosting our annual Big Coat Day, where we encourage people to donate coats and warm winter clothing or footwear (in reasonable condition of course).

Launched in 2005, FC United’s Big Coat, is the longest running part of our community programme and down the years we have worked with a number of charities to help acquire warm winter clothing to those most in need in the Manchester area.

So if you have any spare items that you would like to donate to this season’s Big Coat Day please bring them along to Big Coat Day on Sunday 1st January 2017.

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