'Hero of the Day': Metallica Shocks Manchester Charity, Donates £40,000 to Fight UK Rough Sleeping

Heavy metal legend Metallica donated £40,000 to homeless charity Coffee4Craig before performing in Manchester earlier this week.

“We didn't really want to get our hopes up,” Coffee4Craig head Hendrix Lancaster told the BBC after discovering that Metallica would support the them through All Within My Hands, the band’s own organisation, a few weeks in advance.

Metallica’s All Within My Hands, which raises funds for charities in the San Francisco Bay Area and donates to music education programmes and food banks, requested that production companies find a charity to support during their tour, and Mr Lancaster’s appearance on the BBC programme Watchdog tipped off one of Metallica’s team members.

Coffee4Craig began after Mr Lancaster and his wife, Risha Lancaster, founded the charity after her brother, Craig White, died whilst sleeping rough in Cardiff in 2013 after suffering from mental health issues. The charity aims to help “those most vulnerable to regain some dignity and well-being”.

Metallica fans and charities alike showered the band with praise on social media and congratulated Coffee4Craig for receiving such a gesture of goodwill.

Coffee4Craig volunteers were also given the chance to meet the band and attend their Manchester show, where the band gave them the donation.

“The donation blew us away, not only the financial donation but all the leftover food from catering and dressing rooms went to our out-of-hours drop in,” Mr Lancaster said. “They were very humble and really interested in what we do and who Craig was.”

According to Mr Lancaster, the charity costs £2,000 a week to operate, adding that “we're not going to be panicking about getting stuff” following Metallica’s donation. Metallica is set to perform at Twickenham Stadium on 20 June before continuing their tour across Europe.