Mysterious donor gives £4 million to homeless charity
AMYSTERY donor ered a £4 million for the homeless West Midlands.
The anonymous benefactor has stunned staff at the Heart of England Community Foundation with the Christmas donation.
The foundation will use £3 million of it to fund major intiatives to help those sleeping rough and without homes in the New Year.
And £1 million will be invested to guarantee a legacy for years to come.
Tina Costello, chief executive officer of the foundation, described the donation as “incredible.”
It comes at a time when the plight of the homeless has been driven home with the death of a man in Bir- has delivfestive gift across the mingham in recent freezing condition. Paul Williams, aged 38, was was discovered cold and unresponsive outside Wagamama recently.
Birmingham has seen a 50 per cent rise in rough sleeping in the last year and the region is estimated to need 300,000 new homes built over the next 15 years to meet rising demand. West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, has set up Homelessness Taskforce to try to help tackle the problem.
Ms Costello said: “This is an incredible gift to receive just before Christmas and is a huge investment into the third sector locally.
“There is a real need for goodquality, accessible accommodation for vulnerable people in the West Midlands so we are delighted to be launching a programme of this kind.
“Next year we will be seeking applications from organisations to help us deliver this project effectively. This could be supporting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, women and children leaving abusive situations or people with disabilities who need specialist accommodation.”
The foundation has sent out a heartfelt thank you to the anonymous donor behind the seven-figure sum. The donor has requested the funds are used to create new or upgrade existing accommodation for homeless and vulnerable people.
The foundation will use the cash to support three major initiatives 2018, each with a value of around £1 million. The other £1 million will be added to the Foundation’s endowment fund, which is invested to guarantee a legacy of giving for communities in years to come.