Over the last 12 months I’ve started working as the centre manager at Number 11 and I’ve been privileged to witness first hand the impact we've had on so many lives in the community of Stoke-on-Trent. Number 11 is all about family as we believe that building a strong relationship impacts people's lives in the long term. A number of people have come to us in a state of crisis, facing many complex issues such as mental ill-health, social isolation, drug/alcohol addiction or even homelessness. We're doing some great work with our clients but there is so much more we could do if we had more funds to improve our service; by developing our workshops further, delivering high quality training for our staff and volunteers or providing better resources for our clients. In doing this we can support our people to think in creative ways about their lives and begin to piece their shattered life's back together.

Number 11 is a charitable organisation that aims to provide long-term, holistic and sustainable support to those in need with a focus on building strong, positive relationships with all those who come in through our doors. Centred around a family environment, we exist as a drop-in centre with pay-as-you-feel café on site. People that engage with us also have access to food, emergency clothing and washing facilities. As part of building effective relationships and creating a sense of community, we also provide workshops and activities for people to take part with an aim to tackle social isolation, build self esteem and develop aspirations. Over time, we plan to provide education and encourage people to get back into work and overcome the complex issues they face in order to bring hope and a better quality of life.

From 20th March until 30th March 2019, Dave (Centre Manager @ Number 11) and some of our amazing team will be running 11km on 11 consecutive days for Number 11. That’s a whole lot of 11's, and it’s all taking place to raise money for our work. You could help to support us by taking part (you could run 11k for 1 day, a few days or all 11 days) or by donating to someone undertaking the challenge.