Team Ward challenges residents to live on £4 for a day to help Petrus

Team Ward in Rochdale Town Centre

Team Ward, a group of local 16 and 17 years olds, is working to raise awareness of Petrus and the work the organisation does.

To do this, the group is challenging people and their household to live on £4 for a day. The challenge is a chance for people to understand the hardships of living on the streets and to empathise with a group of people who often suffer prejudice.

The group is asking that people share a picture on social media and donate the difference to what would normally be spent to Petrus.

A spokesperson for the group said: “£4 doesn’t seem like a lot. A Big Mac meal is £4.19 but for the homeless community of Rochdale, £4 is all they have to live on for a day. Three meals for the same amount of money is what the average UK family spends on food to be thrown away every single day.”

Petrus is a Rochdale based organistion helping those struggling with homelessness and a variety of other problems such as mental illness by providing accommodation, help and advice.

The group, who are doing the work as part of their National Citizen Service, recently paid a visit to the Petrus Community Hub and spent time talking to workers and service users. The group were able to learn about the service and understand the lives of people using the service.

As well as the £4 challenge, the group recently organised an awareness campaign and distributed leaflets and spoke to shoppers in Rochdale Town Centre. As part of their campaign the group used banners and t-shirts that they later donated to Petrus for them to use in the future.

A spokesperson for the group added: “Despite the tremendous work this charity does; only 30% of Rochdale citizens have heard of it and we want to change that. We really got involved with learning about Petrus and even pitched ideas for our campaign to them in a Dragon's Den style. We feel strongly about this cause and we hope others will to.”