This year's charity is SPARKLE, chosen by the fabulous Miss Vivienne Lynsey. 

Every year we try and pick a charity that is close to our hearts, and that one of our shiMMer family has a connection to. 100% of the money raised in the raffle on the day goes straight to the day, and we are grateful for the generosity of everyone who donates and buys a raffle ticket. 

Sparkle – The National Transgender Charity began as the organisers of the annual Sparkle Weekend, hosted in Sackville Gardens in the heart of Manchester’s Gay Village.

Since becoming a registered charity in 2011, before both Stonewall and the LGBT Foundation became trans inclusive, the Sparkle Weekend has grown exponentially, and is now the largest free-to-attend celebration of gender diversity in the world, held over the second weekend in July every year. ​
The Charity also organises Manchester’s Transgender Day of Remembrance service, one of the largest events of its kind in the UK, and offers guidance and training to businesses, public sector organisations, and educational institutions on how to support gender variant colleagues, customers, service users, students, and other stakeholders. ​
Run by a team of passionate and dedicated volunteers, the Charity also undertakes projects throughout the year to further its aims of promoting a positive representation of the trans*, non-binary/genderfluid and intersex community. ​
*We use the word ‘trans’ as an umbrella term to include anyone whose gender identity is not aligned with the gender that they were assigned at birth.