Thanks for your votes

IT was a great honour to receive so many votes in the Vernon Jubilee fund from Express readers, thanks so much to everyone who voted for The Wellspring.

The funds raised will be spent on providing services to homeless and disadvantaged people in Stockport.

Recently homelessness has had lots of press as the government have given Greater Manchester millions to address the rising homelessness issues in Greater Manchester.

The headlines often read that additional properties will be built to accommodate people who are homeless. In my experience a lack of housing provision is very low down on the list when you look at the reasons as to why people are homeless.

Homeless people don’t need more housing, they need professional support and guidance.

Although I do agree that more homes are needed in the long term the money would be much better spent on providing people with the support they require in order to give them the best possible chance of moving in to a property.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has pointed to a lack of heath care provision for people who are homeless and has stated that direct healthcare for homeless people should be made more available in order to stop people from attending A & E.

This is something we have been doing at The Wellspring for over 10 years, saving our NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds in the process.

The GP and Nurse services provided at The Wellspring for people who are homeless is such a fantastic service that we are very proud to be running it.

The Wellspring will be running two campaigns over the next few months.

The Rucksack Project will again be looking for donations of warm and waterproof clothing, rucksacks and sleeping bags. We will also be running our Christmas dinner campaign, for every donation of £5 we will provide someone in need with a full Christmas dinner and a gift.

And Stockport County will be holding a Christmas Carol Concert for The Wellspring on December 17 at Edgeley Park.