500 together

One of our members wrote to us asking if we could help. For the past 2 years she has been working with an Afghan chat group for Refugee women . The women are now looking to start running the group themselves and become an official Community Group. During Refugee week, due to take place in June, the women in the group would like to do a ‘pop up’ shop selling clothes they have made using Afghan fabrics, embroidery etc. They are hoping to make this the start/launch of their Community Group. The group has been donated 2 sewing machines but would very much like to buy an overlocker. They have sourced a re-conditioned one and wondered if we could get that for them. We were only too pleased to help and sent £300, which covers the cost of the overlocker with a bit extra for them to put towards supplies. We love groups like this that support and bring refugee women together. We look forward to following the progress of the group and their pop up shop and wish them every success.

We hope everyone has been able to keep cosy and dry this week. We are back with news of donation 235, which we hope will provide some warmth! Before Christmas one of our members asked if we would consider a donation to a charity supporting communities who are at risk of suicide. The organisation, Body & Soul, is a revolutionary suicide prevention charity supporting children, young people and families. We were delighted to help when we heard about the important and unique work this charity does. More information can be found on their website: https://bodyandsoulcharity.org/ Just before Christmas we made a £500 donation to the charity so that they could buy essential smart phones for Body & Soul ahead of what can be a difficult period for some people. While a smartphone may seem small, it is a lifeline that keeps Body & Soul’s support going which enables urgent, real-time support. The smartphones 500 together’s money has purchased is allowing Body & Soul staff and vo...

We are pleased to be kicking off the new year with donation 234. We have supported members of Shasbah in the past - a brilliant Sheffield based charity which supports people with Spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus in the local area. They asked if we could help one of their young members to get an accessible trike - which as well as helping him get around, has also made his physio sessions much more fun. These specialist trikes are expensive, and it is not easy for families who also have so many other additional expenses to cover, so we were very happy to send £500 to help towards the cost of the trike.

We are back with one quick festive donation we wanted to tell you about. Our member who is associated with Gleadless Valley Foodbank asked if we could help buy a few toys for some of the children who come with their parents. Of course we were pleased to help and sent them the £107 they had spent buying what they needed. We know what a hard time Christmas is for so many families and were glad to be asked to help in this situation.

We are pleased to be back with news of donation 232. As many of us gear up for Christmas, we are pleased to be able to help the wonderful community group Family Voice with their work supporting some families at what for so many, is a really challenging time of year. It is a tough period with the short days, miserable weather and so many nasty bugs going around. Getting out of the house is hard, making it difficult to access support and have valuable social interactions. Family Voice is another example of a group who have supported us from the early days, and who we are always pleased to help whenever they nominate families who would benefit from a donation from us. It is often through community groups like this that we are put in contact with recipients who we can offer a helping hand to. The work they do year round to support migrant women in Sharrow, Lowfield and Nether Edge is incredible. At the bottom of this email we are sharing the message we received after donating to t...

  We are pleased to be back with news of our latest donation, number 231. Before we do that, can we say a big thank you for the lovely comments we received after our £100K announcement.  A warm welcome to a few new members - thank you to those of you who were able to tell others about us.  Your generosity and support means we can say yes when members come to us asking for help. We are lucky to be supported by members who are involved with local charities, big and small.  They are at the coal face and come into contact with many of the people we are able to support.  They are all very thoughtful about when they ask us for help, only doing so when there are no other avenues to try.   This week our member at the Sheffield hub of Shelter asked if we might be able to help one of their clients,  who   is a victim of modern slavery and human trafficking.  She has just signed for a new property and has been awarded a washing machine, f...