500 together

For our 72nd donation, we are sending £500 to the Parson Cross Initiative to fund improvements to their allotment project including some much needed tree surgery work on their small apple orchard and some new raised planting beds to use with their youth group. The youth group has met in different forms since the first lockdown, and has already been involved in painting the shed and building an outdoor kitchen and pizza oven. Now they're ready for their next step and the new raised beds and other work will set them up for a spring and summer of activities. We spoke to Nick Waterfield at Parson Cross Initiative about the allotments and Nick explained how important the allotments have been over the pandemic and how much the local community has benefitted from them. We wish them all the best and look forward to seeing some great photos of the upgrades. Thank you to our member who spotted this great initiative and sent us the nomination. This article gives some more information on some

We loved this nomination from a member who saw someone who might need our help and took the time and trouble to find out more about this family so that we could offer a little support. ‘A’ is a mum to 3 children under the age of 10. In October her middle child was diagnosed with the very rare condition of aplastic anaemia and they have been in hospital for much of the time ever since. Aplastic anaemia is a serious condition affecting the blood, where the bone marrow and stem cells do not produce enough blood cells. In mid December mum and son went into isolation in hospital as he was due to have a bone marrow transplant on 22nd December. However, the donor got Covid, so the procedure was cancelled. Her son had had the required chemo for the operation but then caught an infection. After further chemo, he was finally able to have his transplant at the end of December from a back up donor. They are still in hospital, having spent Christmas, and his 9th birthday there. They were due to co

  We have donated £500 to Darnall Education and Sports Academy (DESA) - a new organisation set up by local volunteers who recognised the need to offer sport, fitness and learning opportunities to young people in Darnall. The need to give young people access to fitness, social activities and learning feels even more important than ever after the last two years with Covid.     Our money is being used to buy an air hockey table for their youth club, some club T shirts for the kids, and they also used a bit of the funding for a pizza night! We met Abdul Malik who leads the programme and we were really impressed with his commitment and energy to make a difference.    “ From all of us at DESA, we are extremely thankful. The donation will go towards much needed equipment for our sporting activities and youth club sessions. These sessions are key in providing young people from a heavily deprived background a platform to thrive, make friends, lead a more active lifestyle and be in a positive fr

With donation 69, we helped a family with four children (baby to 16 years old) who unfortunately had a serious flood which went through all three floors of their house resulting in the carpets, the sofa and some Christmas presents being ruined. With no insurance and absolutely no means to fix the damage, we liaised with the family's local community worker to donate £500, which has been put towards making essential repairs, new carpets and replacing some of the Christmas presents. The family were 'very, very grateful' for the help 500 Together gave them. We wish the family all the best, thank you to the local community worker who does such great work in the area and thanks to the member that nominated the family. This is an excellent example of the way 500 together can work to step in urgently. Luckily, we just had £500 left in the bank and so we were able to send our help immediately, in time for Christmas.

For donation   68   we have used £440 to buy 3 single beds for a family of 6.   We cannot share details of the family's situation, but these beds, which have been delivered this week in time for Christmas, will mean everyone having their own bed for the first time in quite a while.   We spoke to the mum to arrange the delivery - she was so happy and excited as the beds for 3 of their children would mean she and her husband would be able to reclaim their own bed, which they had relinquished for 2 of the children.  It is going to make a big difference to them. It's another lovely donation.  Thank you to our nominator for spotting the need and asking us to help out.

For donation number   67   your £500 has helped 5 families, thanks to the input of the wonderful Darnall Wellbeing organisation, working with the Roma community.    By working with DWB we know your money has gone to help families that really need it and it will make such a difference - particularly now, at Christmas.  💙  a young family with 7 children. The family are facing many struggles including finances, housing and health and are supported by other charities and services. DWB have been working with this family with regards to the Settlement Scheme and Embassy appointments and signposting. Two children still don’t have their settled status granted due to having no identity document. We have helped fund getting their birth certificates legalised with an apostille, so they can apply for a passport at the Embassy. A passport is such an important document to have as a proof of identity for EU citizens living in the UK, particularly after leaving the EU.     We also gave the family £10

  As promised here we are back with more donation news *number  66 * as we do our best to respond to the many nominations we are receiving this month.  Thank you so much to anyone who has put a little extra in this Christmas - really unexpected, but much appreciated and allows us to do a little bit more. We are all so aware of the devastating fuel poverty affecting more households than ever this winter and we are very happy to be able to support a wonderful campaign Family Voice are running to directly help local families who cannot afford to heat, light and power their homes. We have given £500 to The 'Food and Fuel for Local Children' campaign. This, from Family Voice, explains why it is so important they raise additional funds this winter: We believe that every child has the right to a warm, dry home that is heated and has electricity with access to three meals a day.  The gap between the richest in society and the rest of the population has widened further during the decade