UPDATES

21/09/20 - Your donations have helped to through such a difficult time for the charity, as well as those coming to us for support. Between 23rd March - 30th June, we helped 5,000 people 15,000 times with food and emergency supplies.

We want to say a huge THANK YOU as always to everyone who continues to fundraise and donate to us as we start the process of moving back to our normal model - you are all amazing!

22/06/20 - Special shout-out to Steven Robinson of Verdun Allen Music Foundation, who has raised over £2,500 so far through his online music tutorials!

You can find out more and apply for one of his online music appreciation classes by emailing info@verdunallen.org.uk - thanks Steven!

19/06/20 - As part of #SmallCharityBigImpactDay, we're delighted to share that we've received The High Sheriff Special Recognition Award, for outstanding activity and contribution to the community. We couldn't be more proud of our team and would like to thank all our supporters, donors and partners who have stood by us during this period - we couldn't have done it without you!

15/06/20 - It's difficult to illustrate the impact your donations have been having on people's lives, but we hope the below will go some way in making it clearer...

29/05/20 - We've hit 500 SUPPORTERS!

A heartfelt thank you to all our individual donors, as well as the 11 supporters who are raising money for #MustardTree through events and challenges. True community spirit at work!

19/05/2020 - For those who are used to visiting our Community Shop, you'll notice it's looking slightly different at the moment!

Through your donations, our team of 30-35 staff have helped a total of 6,898 people since the 23rd March - with food parcel deliveries, Food Club visits, emergency provisions and toiletries, and 1-2-1 support. Your efforts in helping us combating poverty, inequality and homelessness during this incredibly challenging time has enabled us to help as many people as possible - THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUING SUPPORT!

13/05/2020 - Another 113 deliveries yesterday - demand is currently increasing and from today we will see what impact some lifted restrictions will have on our service. Below: our kitchen manager Chris bringing in the day's food delivery!

07/05/2020 - 70 food parcels on behalf of the council - packaged and ready to deliver during our Saturday drops. Since the lockdown, we have supported over 5,000 people through food parcel deliveries, Food Club visits, emergency crisis parcels and 1-2-1 support... thank you so much for your contributions towards keeping us going!

05/05/2020 - Top of our list to thank on #GivingTuesdayNow is YOU! 400+ supporters have now contributed to our COVID-19 crisis fund - thank you to everyone making a substantial difference to thousands of people's lives across Greater Manchester.

30/04/2020 - Your donations are not just funding our work - they are also helping to support other organisations across Greater Manchester, who we are working with in this time of great need - here's a lovely thank you message from one of our referral partners - Motiv8!

29/04/2020 - We'd like to give another big shout-out to all our supporters who have set up their own fundraising pages - including Rob, Joe, Mark, Kirstie, Claire, Anthony and Darren. We've seen some brilliant intuition, from the #BigPush123 (by For Baby and Me), the Marble Quiz and Blizzard Comedy going digital, Anthony's thought-provoking poetry and, of course, Mark's cleanly-shaven head!

Thank you to everyone setting up pages, thank you to everyone who has sponsored and thank you to each and every one of the 343 supporters who has donated so far - you have all played a signified part in keeping our operation sustainable.

(Below picture: visitors to our Eccles hub showing their support):

23/04/2020 - Thank you for keeping us stocked for another week! We would also like to thanks those who have offered their time and resources to help keep things running smoothly - including the team from Northwards Housing!

20/04/2020 - We hit £10,000 over the weekend! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this page so far, whether that is through individual acts of kindness or setting up your own sponsorship pages - you are helping provide an essential service to vulnerable people all across Greater Manchester.

As well as home deliveries, your donations are helping to keep our Food Clubs stocked, providing access to items for those who are still visiting our Manchester and Salford hubs - here's an pic of our Eccles Food Club:

17/04/2020 - A big thanks in advance to everyone who will be donating to us through #run5donate5nominate5 over the weekend - make sure to tag us in your photos @MustardTreeMCR on Facebook and Twitter so we can share! (Photo taken before social distancing!)

14/04/2020 - Back in action and ready to delivery another 100 food parcels across Greater Manchester today - shout out to B Smith Packaging who kindly donated these biodegradable bags for life to us! #TeamWork

Special thanks to Joe White who has hit his £1,000 target through the 'Manchester for Europe' fundraising page!

09/04/2020 - Good morning from our Ancoats community shop! Granted it looks a little different thank usual, as we have turned a portion of it into a makeshift picking and packing area for food parcel distribution.

We're currently delivering to approximately 100 households a day, with a bumper amount today to support families over the Easter weekend - thank you for your continuing support!

07/04/2020 - ICYMI, last night our team were featured on Panorama (Coronavirus: The Most at Risk), you can watch it back on iPlayer here: https://bbc.in/2xTUWb6

George (below) mentioned how sad it was to see people so down and desperate during this time. The parcels we're delivering are giving people respite and helping to take the pressure off. In some cases, it's the only avenue they have to access food at the moment.

Thank you for helping us keep this service running!

06/04/2020 - £3,500! This is incredible - thank you all so much for all your efforts - the spirit of collectivism is alive and well in Greater Manchester.

Special thanks today to Mark, John and Rob - who have set up their own fundraisers for us. Mark is shaving his head and Rob is hosting a virtual Marble quiz at 7:30pm tonight!

Whilst some of the team are out on the vans delivering food parcels, we want to thank everyone who is holding the fort at our hubs, including Steve and Pete who are keeping our areas clean and sanitised.

02/04/2020 - A lovely thank you note from Margaret and William who received a food parcel from us today - we'd like to extend the thanks to the 68 people who have contributed to this fund so far - we really couldn't do it without your help!

01/04/2020 - Back out on the vans with Duncan this morning as we deliver more Food Club items and emergency food parcels to people in need across GM.

Yesterday we helped 116 people though visits to our Manchester and Salford Food Clubs, home deliveries and crisis support.

We've worked out that each parcel we deliver costs us £8 through the purchased items, petrol etc - thank you so much to everyone has donated so far - you are playing a key part in keeping this service running!

30/03/2020 - Here's George completing our first Food Club and emergency food parcel deliveries. This is Mustard Tree at the moment, now and for the foreseeable. Thanks so much to everyone who has donated so far - you've already made a huge difference.

Mustard Tree COVID-19 Crisis Fund

The impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) on our local community is already telling.

Almost overnight, we have seen a dramatic drop in our fundraising streams - as offices close, events cancel, donating priorities change and community shop purchases diminish. To help prevent the spread of the virus, we are unable to attend contracted house clearances or collect furniture to gift to those in need.

In line with our latest statement, we are staying open and operating as key workers under the categories of food distribution and charities delivering front-line services (as per latest gov.uk guidance). We are here for people who have been relying on our services, as well as those who find themselves in new, difficult circumstances.

This means that we are refocusing the charity on food clubs, toiletries, clothes, food supply and distribution including managing donations from the public. Our services are applicable to those on benefits and on no income.

Therefore, we are now making an uncharacteristic and direct appeal for funding, to help steer us through this incredibly difficult time and give people who are vulnerable, marginalised and poverty-stricken the opportunity to sustain themselves.

We would also like to take the time to say thank you to everyone who has donated to us in the past, and continue to do so - from individual acts of kindness and monthly giving, to businesses, corporates, community groups and churches.

A special thanks to those also who have contacted us to offer their support, even during their own time of hardship, including food donations from suppliers and restaurants which have helped stock our Food Club.

We have been around for the last 25 years combating poverty and preventing homelessness and working to our values of Belief, Dignity, Opportunity, Diversity and Partnership. We think these values are more relevant than ever and we are committed to continuing to support people across Greater Manchester at this difficult time.