Vincent Kompany has been praised as being “as Mancunian as they come” after pledging hundreds of thousands of pounds to support the city’s homeless community.
Manchester City legend has been praised for his “courage, passion and determination” in tackling homelessness in Greater Manchester by Mayor Andy Burnham.
“Vincent knows, like we do, that in 2019, nobody should have to spend a night on the streets,” Mr Burnham said.
“We do things differently in this city. We don’t just walk on by and, while he may be from Brussels, Vincent is as Mancunian as they come and understands this better than most.”
Former Blues captain Kompany will take part in a star-studded testimonial between Manchester City Legends and a Premier League All-stars team tonight.
He has pledged to donate the proceeds of the match, at the Etihad Stadium, to the Mayor’s A Bed Every Night scheme.
The 33-year-old has already raised more than £300,000 for the scheme through Tackle4MCR - which he set up to raise vital funds to support rough sleepers.
“I can’t praise Vincent Kompany enough for his legendary sporting prowess on the pitch and for his heartfelt support to end the humanitarian crisis of rough sleeping in Greater Manchester,” Mr Burnham said.
“I’ve had the privilege to work with him over the last year and I’ve seen first-hand how committed he is. I will never forget meeting up with Vincent at Supporting People In Need, a charity in Manchester that is doing outstanding work supporting homeless people.
“Just days after he scored that goal against Leicester and just before he led City to their first back-to-back Premier League title, he gave up his time to visit the charity in Ardwick.
“As well as raising awareness of the issues, Vincent’s already raised over £300,000 for A Bed Every Night. And yet he’s going above and beyond this by donating the proceeds of his testimonial to support even more people.”
He added: “I pay tribute to Vincent for his courage, passion and determination to help those who need it the most and I wish him all the best ahead of tonight’s match.”
The second phase of A Bed Every Night will see an extra £6m injected into the scheme to fund another 100 beds from October.
Anyone whose last address was in Greater Manchester and sleeping rough can access the scheme, which is funded until June 2020.
Provision will also become more varied to meet specific needs with women-only spaces, provision for couples and support from those with complex needs such as addiction and mental health issues.
There will also be more options for people with dogs.
So far, 2,003 people have been supported with 688 people now in long-term accommodation.
Get breaking news first on the free Manchester Evening News app - download it here for your Apple or Android device. You can also get a round-up of the biggest stories sent direct to your inbox every day with the MEN email newsletter - subscribe here . And you can follow us on Facebook here .
