500 together

We are pleased to be back with news of donation 269. With this donation we have helped a mum who has escaped domestic abuse after her husband became an addict and started stealing and ended up in prison. With support, she has achieved so much in the last few years - getting her status, going to college, moving into a council house etc but recently she has started having panic attacks and anxiety. Sometimes it takes until you feel really safe for the trauma to come through. As a result she hasn't been able to attend her universal credit meetings or keep up with their demands and they have sanctioned her payments. This is obviously creating more stress. She hasn't even got the money for the bus fare to take her children to school. We have sent £500 which will allow her to buy a bus pass for the children for a month, have money for food and pay some bills at least. Our member is supporting her and hopefully they will be successful in getting her benefits reinstated. ...

One of our members told us about a family who needed some 500 together help. The family have twins - one of whom was born with a serious health condition and has been in hospital for the first 3 months of his life . He is still having ongoing treatment with the hospital and is awaiting a stomach operation. Dad is working, but is on a low income. Mum was working, but is now unable to work due to the child’s health. They have no right to benefits as they own their own home and have a mortgage, which was all ok, until their son was born with health conditions meaning mum cannot go back to work. The long-term plan is that the mother-in-law will look after the children, and then the mum will be able to go back to work, however as the mother-in-law lives overseas, they are currently saving up to pay for her fare to get to the UK. Due to them trying to save any spare money for the plane ticket they are really struggling with the cost of food. Friends have been helping but this isn’t sus...

This week our friends at Shasbah (Sheffield Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus) asked if we could work with them to help one of their members. She is having to move house and is without support to do this. She is physically disabled and having been provided with a skip by the housing association, is unable to fill it. She needs to pay for a specialist removal company who are equipped to handle waste management, which will cost £700. Shasbah are helping her with one of their discretionary grants of £300 and came to us to see if we could help with the shortfall. They told us what a difficult time she has had at her home over the past few years and how they all hope the move will be the chance for a 'fresh start' for her. We were very pleased to be able to send £400 so the move can go ahead with the appropriate removal support, and wish the Shasbah member all the best in her new home.

You may remember back in January (donation 236) we bought a sewing machine overlocker for an Afghan chat & sewing group for Refugee women. They were planning to have a pop up shop as part of Refugee Week to sell clothes made using Afghan fabrics, embroidery, etc. Our member who nominated them got in touch to tell us how useful the overlocker has been and how absolutely treasured it is. The group was successful in having an exhibition/pop-up shop in Sheffield for Refugee week in June and the women involved in the project gathered together again for the occasion. Our member asked if we could help pay for a meal for them all. We liked the idea of helping them come together to celebrate their work and were pleased to give £150 for the 25 women to share a meal together. We hope it was a big success.

One of our members asked if we might be able to support the Sheffield Family Holiday Fund - a local charity which provides much needed holidays and short breaks for local families facing adversity. The charity works closely with community partners to identify appropriate families, many of whom are navigating illness, disability, bereavement, domestic abuse, or homelessness. Typical breaks include traditional seaside destinations including Cleethorpes, Filey, and Butlins in Skegness, as well as an annual festive trip to the Lyceum Theatre for the Christmas pantomime. In 2025 alone, the charity sent 221 individuals (57 families, including 113 children) away for a break. Referrals come from frontline services, with 22% of support going to young carers, 19% to families raising a child with Special Educational Needs (SEN), and 19% to those facing homelessness. We spoke to the charity to see if we could help fund a family to get away on a break. At this time of year when many of us are ...

A year ago, with donation 225, we helped a Hungarian man being supported by a member involved with Waythrough, a charity which offers free, confidential support for mental health, alcohol, drugs, housing and related areas. It was one of our smallest donations - £100 - which paid for him to take a Level 4 accredited computer course run by the Open University. We were pleased to hear how well he has done and have been asked if we could offer a little bit more help as he seeks to further his chances for employment . We have sent a further £170 to pay for him to get his Hungarian Qualifications changed to UK ones. He is on the lowest money of £400 a month UC and so is really struggling to afford to save anything towards this. We are really happy to help and understand these qualifications will go a long way to helping him find employment. He is clearly a very hard working and determined individual and we wish him the very best.

We were asked if we could help buy a bed for someone being supported by one of our members. She is a care leaver, who has been a victim of domestic abuse. She is heavily pregnant and is sleeping on an airbed. Her support worker asked us for help and of course we were very happy to be able to step in and send £470 to help get a bed frame and mattress. Another great nomination and one we could offer immediate funds for to avoid any delay in getting the help where it was needed.