500 together

D onation 112. One of our members told us about a person they were supporting who had a number of safety issues developing in their home. Sometimes the circumstances of our recipients mean we are unable to share too many of the details of their situation. That is always fine - our purpose is to help where we can and we always want our members to know they can nominate without the need for full details to be shared publicly. This is one such case, but we are so pleased our £500 has helped to make this person's home safer and encouraged them to trust and engage further with the support being offered by our member. As is so often the case, our donations have wider reaching consequences than we realise.

  Donation number   111   goes to a Sheffield family of five, with 3 children under 10, who unfortunately suffered a major house flood. The damage was so bad that the council had to move them initially into temporary accommodation and then from there into a new home. As a result of the flood, they have lost most of their furniture, possessions and clothing. Whilst their community worker is helping them access council funding pots for situations like this, this involves application forms, providing receipts for possessions and at least 17 days to hear about a decision, so they asked if 500 together could help the family to purchase a new sofa. Insurance is often something that many families have cut back on too, so was not an option.   We were very happy to help ease the stress and burden for the family and we hope they are settling into their new home and wish them all the best.  Once again this is a great example of how immediate the help of 500 together c...

We are pleased this week to be able to share news of donation 110 of £500 which has gone to Lilies Clothes Bank, a Sheffield charity that supports those in need of secondhand clothing.   One of the organisers explained how much they could do with some sturdy shelving racks to safely store and organise their stock and showed us how they were managing with boxes stacked on top of each other.   This made accessing different sets of clothes, particularly those boxes at the bottom of the stack,  really difficult for their volunteers.   We were delighted to be able to help and - as the before and after photos show -  we can see the improvement the shelving has made.  It makes them so much more efficient in meeting the specific needs of the increasing number of families requiring their support to be properly clothed. The organiser sent us this message of thanks: “Well the shelves are up and the relabelling done! Today it was SOOOO much eas...

One of our members asked if we could help Jane. Jane is a single parent with two young children, aged 6 & 3.  She is an apprentice in a local preschool, working 37.5 hours per week, studying Maths and English, whilst also completing her childcare studies.  She is trying to make a better future for herself and her children.  As an apprentice Jane earns a low apprenticeship wage, she has rent to pay and this, as well as the rising cost of living, means she struggles financially every day. The family’s washing machine has recently broken. Jane tried to fix it herself, to no avail. She bought a new part for it but this also has not worked. She is in desperate need of a new washing machine but does not have the finances for it.  She is currently bringing her own uniform and her son’s school uniform to nursery for her colleagues to take home and wash. Anyone who has had their washing machine break down will know the impact of that, but for Jane, who already suffer...

This week, with our 108th donation,     we have made a difference to a local family with a 2 year old son. The little boy was born with a cleft lip and palate and has undergone 3 surgeries and is now well and ready to learn to talk.  He is also excited to be starting out at nursery. Our member told us that he didn’t have his own bed and had been sharing a bed with his mum and dad - they were all  sleeping on their one mattress on the floor.   Whilst local charities had double beds available, they were struggling to find anything suitable for a child and so our member asked if we could help. We were delighted to buy a small bed and some bedding at a cost of  £257.   One of the many great things about 500 together is the speed with which we can action a request like this.  Once our admin team had unanimously agreed to support this nomination, we could get the money across and the bed was delivered the next day, and that...

  And so to our first donation of 2023, which has gone to the incredible community organisation   Family Voice , who work for and with families around the Sharrow, Lowfield and Nether Edge area. They told us about the  many families struggling to pay their bills and asking for help and wondered if we might be able to provide supermarket vouchers which will help some of these families to use their money to pay their bills.  We wanted our donation to reach as many families as possible, so we used some of our extra funds and gave Family Voice £1000 to allow them to help 15 families with the extraordinary cost of living challenges they are facing. Our member from Family Voice has sent us this message, explaining the impact of our support - which extends far beyond just the shopping vouchers. Thank you so much for the cost of living funds you have donated to families at Family Voice.  When we are able to help a mum in this way it means so much. It relieves stress. It...

  One of our members sent us a nomination telling us about a 68-year-old asylum seeker who was moved to Sheffield from another UK city by Migrant Help following eviction, and needed some help. This lovely lady, who we will call Deborah, came into the country with family in 2013 hoping for a better life following a lifetime of abuse in her native country. However, since being in the UK she has encountered many challenges including family breakdown which resulted in her having to find alternate accommodation in a country she knew little about with no other means of support.  She went on to find work for herself as she was keen to contribute, although sadly went on to be exploited by her employer which left her unable to pay her rent. Prior to eviction, Deborah was living in what she described as a safe and secure community where she had forged friendships and regularly attended local groups. She received support from a mental health charity and was engaging with Local ...