A charity volunteer has been left fuming after Manchester City Council repeatedly issued parking tickets to her and her fellow volunteers while they serve breakfast for the homeless.
Kim Law, 65, said herself and other volunteers have been issued around 'half a dozen' tickets between them over the last year as they park their cars in a loading bay on Oldham Street in the city centre, nearby where they cook breakfasts for homeless charity Lifeshare.
She told the Manchester Evening News the group leave letters in their windscreens explaining their situation - but repeatedly come back to find their vehicles ticketed. Manchester City Council insist that 'volunteers are not exempt from the parking enforcement rules'.
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Lifeshare works alongside the council to provide an indoors weekend breakfast service for people who are sleeping on the streets of the city. Kim said she parks in the loading bay at around 5am every Sunday morning, while she and other volunteers carry heavy goods from their cars to the nearby Mosaic Cafe on Dale Street, where the breakfast is cooked and served.
"We cook a lovely hot breakfast for increasingly more and more people, and open our doors at 7am on Sunday mornings," she told the M.E.N. "We park in the loading bay around the corner because our cars are always full of so much stuff - clothes and food. So we couldn't park anywhere else other than just around the corner."
She said she has become increasingly 'angry' as the volunteers frequently return to their cars at around 9am to find them ticketed - despite letters of explanation in their windscreens.
"We're helping the vulnerable people in our society - and it's still dead at that time in the morning, there is nobody about," she explained. "I had 250 tins of beans in my boot the day I got one of the tickets. It's not about paying for it, I can well afford to pay the ticket. It's the principle of it.
"Lifeshare offered to pay the ticket, and I said no because I don't think it is right for a charity to be paying a ticket to Manchester City Council. It just doesn't seem right that we're in this situation. It's disgusting."
Kim, who has been volunteering at Lifeshare for a decade, said herself and other volunteers park 'safely' and don't feel they are causing any 'obstruction'.
A Manchester City Council spokesperson said: "Lifeshare is a key partner in the Manchester Homelessness Partnership providing a valued weekend breakfast indoors for people who are sleeping on the streets and their volunteers are essential for the delivery of this service.
"We welcome the work that the volunteers do, and we support organisations where we can, but volunteers are not exempt from the parking enforcement rules.
"Pay and display bays can be used for free up until 8 am at the weekends but are subject to parking charges after that time, which everyone has to comply with."
Lifeshare declined to comment when approached by the Manchester Evening News.
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