Mustard Tree’s Round-Up

‘80s Ancoats

This photo of 1980s Oldham Road popped up in our Twitter feed yesterday (thanks to @rebuildingmcr for sharing). The photo was taken before we moved into our Ancoats hub, but we’ll give a bonus point to anyone who can tell us what the wording on the side of the building was back then. Answers on a postcard in the comments section.

Do you have any historic photos of Mustard Tree you’d like to share? Feel free to send them to information@mustardtree.org.uk or DM us at @MustardTreeMCR for a shout-out.

Helping with Hardship: Trisha’s Story

Debt is now one of the main causes of homelessness in our city. Trisha’s story is a prime example of how our support team can prevent an eviction and improve someone’s economic wellbeing through advocacy and signposting:

With Mustard Tree’s support, Trisha was awarded £584 back-pay, just in time for Christmas, as well as £114.10 weekly. Trisha was also approved for a Discretionary Housing Payment of £13.27 a week and was awarded some back-pay.

Click here to read the case study.

Helping with Hardship: Trish’s Story — Trisha’s name and image has been changed to protect identity

Do you know someone who is struggling with their finances? We may be able to help. Please fill out a referral form and one of our support team will be in touch. As always – thank you for helping us keep our services running with your generous donations!

Heating or Eating

It’s a term you wouldn’t expected to hear in one of the richest countries in the world, and yet this quandary for many Manchester residents this winter.

A total of 91 people accessed our Ancoats Food Club on Monday – one of the largest daily figures we’ve seen since the start of the pandemic. That’s 910 items of food in a single day (1,700 if you include our Eccles and Little Hulton hubs). The response by charities such as ours prompted a mention by Rebecca Long-Bailey in the House of Commons this week. Bittersweet given the circumstances around our inclusion, but a welcome acknowledgement nonetheless.

With the cost of living crisis deepening, now is the time to have a true understanding of what this means for our clients, as well as ourselves as an organisation – and how small acts of kindness can make all the difference.

Small acts of kindness like our neighbours Leaders in Care, who dropped off a food donation for us this week (which went straight into Food Club!).

Our current concerns are summed up in this article by our Trusts, Grants and Corporate Fundraising Officer Beckie. If you think you can support Mustard Tree through a regular food collection, we’d be grateful to hear from you.

Tesco Community Grant – WINNERS!

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who voted for Mustard Tree in their local Tesco’s blue token community grants project.

Thanks to you – we secured £1,500 for our Little Hulton Food Club, which will go a long way to tackling food insecurity in the Little Hulton/Walkden area.

Combatting poverty this Easter

Easter will be rolling around soon. We want to make sure our Community Shops are fully stocked with affordable eggs, for the many families who are already struggling with their food budget at the moment.

The 1,000 Egg Challenge for Mustard Tree

We’ve set a marker to receive 1,000 Easter eggs for our three hubs – can you help us hit our target? Please get in touch via email or phone if you’re part of a group who’d like to help us achieve our goal!

Always a bargain

Our latest review is by Kevin, who has kitted out his home with pre-loved items from Mustard Tree. It’s less in the landfill, plus funds for the charity – everyone’s a winner!