In an effort to make a small difference, I am hoping to raise at least £400 by running in the Simplyhealth Great Manchester 10K on Sunday the 20th of May.

As much as I love the city…I cannot deny that parts Manchester are currently struggling through a profound wave of rising homelessness, inequality and poverty. When walking through the city center it is very common to see people on the edge of life.

Rampant property price rises, two years of zero affordable builds (something serious enough to make national news) and government services stretched beyond their limits - has left the city unable to help many of its most vulnerable citizens. Rough sleeping has increased by 900% in Manchester since 2010. The city’s own Metro Mayor, Andy Burnham, has recently admitted that the problem is set to get even worse before it gets better.

With this money, ‘HiS Church ’ (Charity number: 1097667) will supply The Mustard Tree, one of Manchester’s preeminent homeless outreach charities, with more than a metric tonne of food (the donation helps the Church's charitable operational costs). Not only is this a large quantity and great value for money, but it will also be this will be high quality and nutritious food - something many of these people may not have had for some time.

For more information about the scale of the crisis in Manchester, please see this video.