500 together

Today we can share news about donation  199 , which has gone to help a mum and her kids. We are grateful to our friends at the charity Shelter, who are supporting the family, for sending us this nomination. The mum has fled high risk domestic abuse with her 4 young children  She was supported in going through the homeless pathway and has now been matched to a property, so is being helped with resettling. We were asked if we could contribute to funding new carpets in the home to allow them to move in as soon as possible and help give them a fresh, safe start.  We were pleased to help and have sent £500, along with our very best  wishes, as they settle into their new home. We know from all our recipients what a difference these donations make.  Thank you so much for your continued support to allow us to be able to say yes when people ask for our help.  

One of our members asked if we could support Read Easy Sheffield, a small, local organisation he has been volunteering with.   Read Easy Sheffield aims to improve adult literacy in Sheffield by recruiting, training, organising and supporting volunteer coaches to help adult members of the public to improve their reading. These coaches work 1:1 with learners to assess their current reading standard then deliver individually tailored coaching to help them to improve their literacy.  They have established and are working on establishing new partnerships with local organisations who refer learners to them, including libraries, housing associations and further education institutions. They are affiliated to the national charity Read Easy UK, and follow their well-proven methods.  Improved literacy skills impact people in all aspects of life, including employment, physical and mental health and connection with their community. Estimates suggest that 2.4m people in Engla...

  With donation 197 we have helped a family of 4 have a much needed break. One of our members told us about M, the dad in the family, who has had lifelong diabetes. This has led to kidney failure, as well as other complications including sight loss and terrible infections.  Christmas was a particularly hard time for them as it came to a medical crisis. M needed a port installed in order to have dialysis. However his veins wouldn’t heal enough to support it. There was a concern that he would not be well enough to undergo dialysis at all. And this would ultimately jeopardise any chance of a kidney transplant, which is their end goal.  Thankfully recently, his port healed and dialysis was able to start. This gave the family back some hope that they might have a chance of establishing a new normal. And, they have a treatment schedule now that means that a short break would be possible in England.  Sadly, due to his repeated illnesses and periods of sickness, M ...

  We are pleased to be back with news of donation   196 . With this £500 donation we are pleased to be able to support  Baby Basics - a local charity who  support  new mothers and families with new babies who are struggling to meet the financial and practical burden of looking after a new baby. They provide support to people including, but not limited to, teenage mums, people seeking asylum and women fleeing domestic abuse and trafficking.  Our member who nominated the charity for our help explained that Baby Basics are reliant on donations of toiletries and clothing and equipment to support families, but one group of items that very rarely gets donated, and represents their most significant outgoing at the moment is baby formula, bottles and sterilisers.   In Jan 2025 the service provided:  32 sets of 6 bottles 31 sterilisers 44 boxes of formula   A steriliser costs about £10, a box of formula costs around £9 and a set of bottles c...

  One of our members asked if we could help S, who recently collapsed in pain, ending up in A&E with a bulging disc in her lower back.  Now back home, she is on crutches, in  immense pain with the disc and sciatica so she can't work - which is a big problem for them as she is self employed.  Her husband works shifts in a local hospital and is taking on more shifts to cover their bills.  She also has problems with her son who has adhd and under support as he often struggles to be able to go to school. Her teenage daughter is trying to help as much as possible but is low and worries about her mum.  We’ve sent £500 to S to pay for some physio to hopefully speed her recovery and return to work and to pay for a cleaner to help the whole family.  Please remember to send in your nominations - this one is a good example of how our donations might be able to help to ease things for a family in their hour of need and perhaps avo...

One of our members asked if we could help a family being supported by a fantastic local community group Darnall Well Being. Last year the family's 16-year-old daughter was involved in a road traffic accident. She  sustained multiple fractures and a brain injury. Her sister, who is four years older, has given up work to care for her and has moved back into the family home. However, limited space in the home means the sisters have had to share a very old double bed with a couple of blankets for cover. This is clearly uncomfortable and challenging for both sisters. We were pleased to help by paying £490 to fund single beds and bedding for the sisters.  Our member has explained how much this will significantly improve the health and well-being of both sisters.  It will certainly allow for a better recovery and more capacity to care.  As always, we are glad we could help and are grateful to our member for sending us this nomination.

With donation 193, we are pleased to have been able to help out a family with 2 teenagers, supported by a local charity, who are moving to a new property.     This is a temporary move but they are unclear at this time how long they will be in this property.  The property is unfurnished and there are no carpets down on the floor. The family have been helped to get some furniture, but needed help to get a cooker and some carpeting - things that they will be able to take with them as and when they have to move again.  We were pleased to be able to send £500 to allow the support workers to have a cooker installed and get some rugs and roll ends of carpets to make their home more comfortable.