116 - Buying a new cooker for a family - March 2023

This week is donation 116 and has seen us fund the purchase and fitting of a new gas cooker.

We do feel lucky to have members who are involved in local organisations and charities, who work directly with individuals and families and who can come to us when they see a particular kind of need we might be able to help with.

We are grateful to our member from the fantastic local charity Family Voice for making this nomination and explaining why it is so important:

Family Voice works with isolated women in a holistic way for as long as needed. Most of the mums are incredibly resilient and spend a lot of time dealing with the complex problems in their lives, often for months on end. Living from crisis to crisis is common. Stress often builds up and people start to get more illness from living such hard lives. 

So when a basic piece of equipment breaks at home and you can't fix it - it can sometimes feel like the straw that is going to break the camel's back! 

We recognise when women reach this point. This is when we contact 500 Together because this is a crucial point for help. 

Thank you to everyone who contributes to make this help possible. You have made a huge difference in enabling a family to buy a new cooker at a critical moment. It has prevented further downward spiralling.  It helps them to trust us and engage in other positive activities and conversations. And it has helped a family feel safer, like they have a safety net when they need it most.

We echo their thanks to you for contributing, even though times are increasingly tough for so many.   It is wonderful to be in a position to say 'yes' we can help, when we receive nominations like this.  And we are also so grateful to everyone involved in Family Voice for the tremendous work they do in the community.  They do make an enormous difference.