In May, Children Relief in Need made a grant of £1,000 to Early Essentials. In October, Sarah from EE wrote to us saying:

The funds have been hugely valuable in helping us to continue our work supporting vulnerable pregnant women across Manchester by providing our Moses basket starter packs to those identified as most in need.

Since the start of lockdown to date, we have processed 118 referrals. This is the equivalent of approx. £35,400 worth of stock given out (if we were to have to buy it all brand new). This takes our over all total of women helped to 896.

We thank you and are so very grateful for your continued support and encouragement.

In May this year Relief in Need awarded the Audacious Foundation with a grant of £3,000 as emergency COVID-19 funding.

One elderly lady requested support from the Foundation after receiving a flyer. We were able to provide an emergency food parcel, and on delivery were informed that she had not eaten in three days due to being unable to leave the house and having no support network.

Though she spoke little English, the allocated volunteer spoke French and was able to converse in depth, discovering that she had arrived in the UK as a refugee earlier in the year. We have since been able to help her access the internet, connect with a Congolese refugee support group & source furniture items that were lacking.

“…with the funding provided by Relief in Need we have been able to provide a total of 3640 meals to Manchester Residents during this difficult time.”

“We were incredibly thankful to receive a generous donation of £2,000 from Manchester Relief In Need to support our unplanned emergency spending to support young people in crisis throughout the Coronavirus lockdown.”

The funding has enabled 5 young people to stay connected to our men's only mental health group after purchasing handsets dongles to enable these young people to stay connected during the lockdown.

We have hand delivered 25 well-being packs to our young people containing self help tools, mindfulness aids, creative crafts, and food. These were very much appreciated, as most are living alone, some with no family, so to be supported during this lonely period has made a big difference.

" I never thought me, a homeless girl, could do the things I've done."

- Catherine, Centrepoint resident

Because of the generosity of Manchester Relief in Need we have been able to create an enjoyable experience during lockdown filled with activities and happy memories instead of a traumatic and potentially volatile environment.

- Alison, Deputy Manager

With so many young women having to isolate together. Not only have we been able to provide activities and happy memories, but we have been able to prevent altercations which in turn would have created evictions for the young women living here.

We can’t thank you enough for your continued support, kindness and generosity, especially during these very uncertain times.

“With this grant, we have extended the hours of the allotment worker on a fixed term contract to ensure that the allotment site is producing fresh fruit and vegetables the whole year round for the food bank, and to manage volunteer workers.”

Thanks to your support, our allotment worker has been able to offer informal volunteer helper sessions to beneficiaries, giving them more opportunities for physical outdoor exercise as a way of improving mood, socialisation and transferable skills such as teamwork and cooperation.

There is an additional benefit of introducing food bank users to how easy it is to grow fresh fruit and vegetables: it encourages healthier choices, which has a potential impact on local families that could last for generations.

Trustees David King and Michael Coates met with Jannat Khan and Helen Walker of Manchester Foyer who had received Group Grants of £2,800, £2,700 and £2,800 respectively for Christmas activities for 2024, 2025 and 2026.

The Manchester Foyer (part of MSV) accommodates 61 young people aged 16 to 25, some estranged from a family or with no family or friends that they can talk to for support. All their young people are in receipt of universal credit or working part time because they are in further education and all have to manage on the lower income living. All residents are committed to moving forward with work or training in their lives. The average length of stay is around two years which avoids the risk of creating dependency.

All of the residents have felt valued by being able to join in Christmas activities such as a party or going out for a meal or bowling which their circumstances do not provide. They also love receiving a Christmas present which for some will be the only one they receive. Everyone has a Christmas stocking outside their door on Christmas morning.

Jannat and Helen were very happy to receive a visit from MRIN and are very grateful for our ongoing support and partnership in the work of Manchester Foyer with young people. They are passionate about their work and seemed very well organised. They provide a modern friendly and effective service to help their young people move on in life. A very high proportion of their young people remain in training, education or work after their time with Manchester Foyer.

The grant was well used, effective in transforming lives and could be a good use of MRiN resources in the future.

A £4,000 grant supported food supplies
Around 40 to 50 people use the shop, often collecting food for a whole family.

Perry's Pantry serves residents of the M16, M20 and M21 postcode areas from its shop on Merseybank Avenue. It opens three days a week, provides deliveries for people who cannot attend in person and offers a weekly advice service.

Members pay £5 to join and £5 each year to renew. They can access affordable food once a week, including fresh produce, protein, frozen meals, tins and packaged goods. The pantry also provides essential toiletries, pet food and free sanitary products.

Around 40 to 50 people use the shop, often collecting food for their families. Volunteers also make deliveries and respond to emergency referrals from social services and health professionals.

Food comes from FareShare, Eat Well, supermarkets and local businesses. Surplus donations are shared with other charities so that as much as possible is put to good use.

The service is entirely volunteer-led. Volunteers run the shop, make deliveries and support fundraising, events and social media.