Mark at the Be Proud Awards

Manchester’s Be Proud Awards is an annual event hosted by Manchester City Council to provide an opportunity to celebrate all of the unsung heroes and volunteers of our beautiful city. We at SPIN are fortunate enough to be in the midst of a finalist for the much coveted Volunteer Of The Year Award.

Mark Evans, co-founder of SPIN, was nominated by A Connolly Ltd (based in Wigan) for his exceptional generosity, selflessness and motivation when it comes to helping the destitute and those in need. Not only has he established a street kitchen with his brother, John, that delivers restaurant quality food on a weekly basis but also co-created a sanctuary for those that need a roof over their head and to get off the streets in our emergency homeless shelter, The Well.

Currently Mark has contributed to taking 20 people off the streets, finding permanent jobs for 7 homeless folks and helping to overcome substance abuse with weekly AA meetings held at The Well.

In addition to this, Mark volunteers a lot of his time delivering food parcels to people in Manchester which cannot afford to provide for themselves. His undiminishing drive to help those in need sees him helping collect food for FareShare - one of Manchester’s biggest food banks based in Smithfield Market.

Dressed up to the nines, Mark, John (his brother and Co-Founder of SPIN), and Adele (nominator from A Connolly Ltd and volunteer at SPIN) attended the glittering gala dinner and awards ceremony in Manchester Town Hall’s Great Hall where they brushed shoulders with other finalists, nominators and sponsors. A well deserved change for a man that gives everything he can to help others; a man that expects nothing in return for his generosity; a humble man that just wants to do good for those without the opportunity to help themselves.

Congratulations Mark on being recognised for all of your fantastic work. Here’s to another year of outstanding achievement with SPIN and The Well.