500 together

A big thanks to our member who told us about  Mondo Radio, a community radio station and workshop/event space based in Sheffield. It is a grassroots organisation that aims to address the underrepresentation of marginalised individuals and communities in the local music industry. Mondo Radio operates on a volunteer-led basis, with a committee of dedicated individuals overseeing its operations. The station has a team of 60+ resident DJs and producers who assist in the day-to-day activities. Mondo Radio also organises various events and workshops, contributing to the development of the music scene in Sheffield. The £500 will go towards funding studio upgrades, namely camera/video recording equipment which will allow the organisation to reach a bigger new audience through online audiovisual content which will allow the organisation to reach a younger audience, whose main point of contact with the online works is through audiovisual content. This will mean that their other activiti...

This week we can tell you about donation 156, which has gone to A and her young daughter. After spending some time in a women's refuge, they have been living in temporary accommodation, waiting to be allocated council housing.  This has finally happened, but as is so often the case, the house they are expected to move into is unfurnished and uncarpeted.  We were able to put A in touch with some charities who could help her source some furniture and apply for funds to get carpets and she worked hard to do as much as she could to set up her new home, but asked if we could help her with the cost of getting blinds, as well as some home essentials, like an iron, ironing board and vacuum cleaner.  We were pleased to be able to send her £500 towards these items.   A has asked us to send her thanks to you all for supporting her and helping her and her daughter settle into their new home. We wish them all the best and as always feel very privileged to have been able...

With donation 155, we are pleased to have been able to help someone being supported by the Health & Wellbeing team at Darnall Well Being. P is mostly bedbound, and has been recommended a specific chair by his physio, which with support, would allow him to get out of bed and spend some time sitting. Unfortunately, the chair can’t be provided on medical grounds, so the family would have to buy one - something which is not financially possible for them. It would obviously make a big difference to their quality of life if P was able to get out of bed and sit up with his wife, so we were pleased to have been asked to help and didn't hesitate in sending £130 across to them to buy the chair. We hope it is making a difference to them and send all our best wishes

We know there is so much need out there and we are always so grateful when members get in touch to make nominations which allow us to send a bit of 500 together help someone's way.  Please remember, that as a paying member, you are very welcome to send us your nominations.  There is no form filling required - just send us an email with whatever details you can share.  We are always happy to have a chat about your nomination to see how we can help.  Our latest donation, number 154, has allowed us to send £500 to a family where both parents are suffering, one with mental health issues and one with physical mobility issues. Things have been particularly bad with one having to be hospitalised and the other struggling with being a single parent at home. This money will help them be able to pay the extra money needed to keep warm at home for the 3 months it is expected to take for mobility recovery. It will also allow mum to buy the fresh food she wants...

  We are pleased to be back to tell you about donation 153, which has seen us send £260 to a family for a new washing machine. Here are the details shared by this week's nominator: 'Fatemah and her family moved to the UK from the Ukraine to escape the war. They ended up in Sheffield living in temporary accommodation. After quite a long process of trying to understand how to gain benefits, attending English classes, looking for work and trying to settle, they were finally given their own tenancy in February. The flat was unfurnished so with support from Edge Advice Centre in Jordanthorpe (  https://www.facebook.com/ profile.php?id=100082577201472 ) they were able to get some basic second hand furniture and appliances. Unfortunately the washing machine they received didn't work and with two young children this was a real blow. The donation from 500 Together enabled them to get one of these and the family are incredibly grateful. Thank you 500 Together!" Thank you all for...

Donation 152 is a tough one - sent with our love to a family going through an awfully sad time. One of our members got in touch to ask if we could help a family where both parents have had to give up their jobs due to one having a fast acting terminal cancer. Their lives have been turned upside down. The benefits they can access do not cover the basic cost of living, never mind the lifestyle you're used to when you both work or the mortgage. We have sent the family £500, which will help them to be able to take the children out to give them some normality as well as pay some of their energy bills with the extra heating needed to nurse at home. As our nominator explained, the donation also helps in acknowledging the family's need at this very sad and difficult time.  We send them our very best wishes and are grateful to have been able to help in the small way we can, thanks to all your kind weekly contributions.

One of our members asked if we might be able to help his friend L.  She is a Big Issue vendor who lives over in Leeds, with her daughter who relies on L to help with her 4 children.    Our member got in touch after L found out that  the property she was living in has been sold and she needed to move out.  She found a house in the same area so that she could stay close to the kids’ school but they just didn’t have the money required for the deposit and first month’s rent.   She needed £1000 urgently to secure the house and avoid losing out to other interested parties.  It was so important that she found the stability of a new home for her and her family and not run the risk of slipping through the net into homelessness. We were pleased to send £500 and join forces with another group like ours,  500 Give a ****  ( www.500give.co.uk )  who our member is also a part of,    who were able to give the other £500.  We really love ...