In 1989, akt (formerly known as The Albert Kennedy Trust) was founded in Manchester by an ally Cath Johnson (née Hall). This was at a time when LGBTQ+ people faced persistent and high levels of oppression, physical and verbal abuse, and were denied the basic human rights and equity afforded to others. Cath stood up and galvanised the LGBTQ+ community of Manchester by leading the world’s first response by a charity to the many LGBTQ+ young people who faced rejection, abuse, and homelessness just for being brave enough to come out to their families.
The responsibility of the fundraising team at akt is to engage people in a variety of ways and encourage them to donate to or fundraise for our work supporting young people. This can take the form of inviting them to set up regular gifts in the way of direct debit donations, to take part in a challenge event (such as marathon running or skydiving) and create online fundraising pages or even to engage corporate support in the form of official partnerships. Our Fundraising Event Volunteers will be instrumental in helping us raise awareness and funding for our work at events, particularly during Pride season.
These events can include performances in pubs and clubs, and special appearances at theatres and galleries where the Volunteers’ responsibilities will include interacting with patrons/customers/audience members and explaining how their support can help the charity. Information leaflets and resources will also be on hand for you to give out.
To give you an idea of how different donation levels can support the charity:
- £15 could help us pay for a young person’s mobile data top-up and transport to emergency accommodation
- £40 could support a young person to obtain a form of Photo ID (needed to open a bank account, claim benefits etc)
- £100 could cover the cost of a two day stay at emergency accommodation £200 could pay for more than 20 hours of support from a caseworker
- An interest in helping akt raise awareness of our work and the young people we support
- Confidence talking to members of the public
- No previous fundraising experience is necessary but could be useful
- An understanding of the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ homeless young people