Tackle the Tough Stuff | Ending Bed Poverty

The Brick, a charity in Wigan fighting the good fight against homelessness and poverty, are set to take part in The Big Sleepout, an initiative taking place at the newly named ‘The Brick Community Stadium’ aimed at supporting some of the most vulnerable people in Wigan.

As part of this year’s Tackle the Tough Stuff campaign, The Brick’s CEO, Keely Dalfen, gave an insight into the invaluable work the charity does in the Borough of Wigan.

“The Brick has been around for well over 100 years. It was started off by a church in Wigan called Queens Hall,” Dalfen explained.

“It became an established charity in 2013 and in the last five to six years it has grown enormously, because we’ve seen a pandemic, we’ve seen a cost-of-living crisis, we’ve seen massive increases in inflation, and we are here for anybody who is financially vulnerable.

“We are an anti-poverty charity. We have 96 beds of emergency and supported accommodation. We work 24/7 in the community. We are open every day of the year, and all the way through the night. We have 24/7 web chats so if anyone is in crisis they can contact us.

“Last year, we supported over 16,500 people in the town, so we do a lot – and that demand has massively increased. We saw a massive increase in food insecurity during the lockdown, which has manifested itself into so many other elements of poverty. And people don’t realise that homelessness and poverty are interlinked. There isn’t just food vulnerability – it’s everything.

“It’s lots of people – we support kids who won’t go to school. They refuse to go because think they smell because they don’t have deodorant. It’s the shame and stigma around it and that’s what we’re seeing.

“In 2023, we set up something called a multi-bank. This is like a foodbank, but providing products which aren’t food. So, it’s all things like cleaning products, bedding, toiletries, toothpaste, toothbrushes and all those things that cost quite a lot of money.

“We provide them as well and distribute them to over 350 other charities, social workers, and schools across the town. We do a lot more than what people would traditionally think of as being a poverty project.

“We are based in Wigan and Leigh. Our homelessness services are just in Wigan, but our multi-bank is based across the whole of the Northwest. We distribute all the way up the M62 corridor and down into Liverpool as well.”

To help raise awareness for those experiencing poverty and homelessness, and to raise vital funds for The Brick Charity to help alleviate some of the financial pressures that individuals and families face in Wigan and Leigh, the Charity have organised a ‘The Big Sleepout’ event.

The Sleepout, supported by Wigan Warriors and Wigan Athletic and taking place at The Brick Community Stadium, aims to support some of the towns most vulnerable people.

“At the Brick we’ve always done a Sleepout. It’s been a sponsored Sleepout. The theme is usually in the winter, and it’s normally been around homelessness.

“This year we had an opportunity to do something in the summer and we thought let’s give it a bit of a different edge. Because you can never replicate homelessness – it’s harsh, it’s cold, it’s unpleasant and it doesn’t matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to replicate it.

“So we thought, instead, let’s have a bit of a celebration of community coming together and tackling an issue.

“What we’re seeing an increase in furniture poverty – which you may not think is a thing, but unfortunately it really, really is.

"It’s families not being able to afford basic household items that me and you would take for granted. So, we’ve always done second hand furniture and we’ve distributed thousands and thousands of pieces of furniture to families who need it.

“Last year, we supported 165 families with beds. In this country, 895,000 children are going to sleep every night without a bed. We wanted to raise the profile of this – that’s there are things happening right on our doorstep in our community that 1) is an injustice and 2) what can we do to get together and be a movement for change.

“It’s about raising awareness and raising funds so we can help more kids with whatever it is that they need and to help get them out of this crisis that they’re in.

“We have worked with Wigan Warriors for about ten years now. We are the charity of the year for Warriors this year and we’ve got their third charity kit, which is fantastic.

“Then, more recently, the stadium has been rebranded as The Brick. It’s that natural collaboration, with the rugby and the football club to get together and bring the town together as one and say let’s do something good.

“The players and the coaches have a match the night before, but they will be in attendance – it’s going to be great.

“If people go to our website – there’s a page on there for the Sleepout and you can sign up. We are wanting about 500 people to take part – we’ve already got scouts clubs interested and they’re coming along. And then we want as many fans as here as we possibly can to have a good night.

“I have a season ticket holder here and I love it. And it’s an opportunity to stay here all night and sleep out here. There are loads of times where I don’t want to go home from here, and now, we don’t have to! We can stay over!

“There is also a link on the same website to donate second hand furniture and contact us. We can also collect. If you have got any furniture, we are desperate for that.”

Wigan Warriors Women’s star, Isabel Rowe, is proud to be associated with The Brick charity:

“It’s an amazing charity,” emphasised Rowe.

“It’s more like a community and the support and opportunities that they give people is something that we as a club are really proud of and it’s something that we want to promote more.

“It’s something that we all want to get involved in and show support for.”

If you would also like to get involved in this year’s Sleepout, then please head to The Big Sleepout - The Brick.