Macc managed the 2023 Spirit of Manchester Fund round of grants which focused on organisations that support people with the cost of living crisis. You will find below just some of the stories which show the impact of these grants and the wide range of projects that they supported.
Men's Room
"We support Men, Trans and Non-binary people who sex work. From our Manchester office, we run artist led creative sessions, offer individual support, including sexual health testing, and provide a hot meal on a Wednesday and Thursday...
"We support Men, Trans and Non-binary people who sex work. From our Manchester office, we run artist led creative sessions, offer individual support, including sexual health testing, and provide a hot meal on a Wednesday and Thursday. Many of our participants have struggled with the increase in food and energy costs over the last few months. To respond to this, we increased our provision to offer an additional creative session on a Wednesday afternoon, supplying a hot lunch and Tesco vouchers to all that attend. The creative sessions are different every month from crocheting for wellbeing, to creating vines for LGBTQ History month, now on display at The Whitworth. We have also provided the opportunity for participants to attend exhibitions at HOME.
Many of our participants experience loneliness and isolation, and have used drugs and alcohol to help them with this. Our space is drug and alcohol free, and explores healthier ways to reduce loneliness."
“Coming to the creative sessions is good for me. It’s a drug and alcohol free space. I won’t come to a session if I’ve had a drink so it’s a good reason to stay sober. Last week I didn’t drink for two days because I came to the creative session on the Wednesday evening and then the exhibition opening at HOME on the Thursday afternoon. Being involved with creative projects has a positive impact on my life.” B, TMR (The Manchester Men s Room) participant
Humans MCR
Humans MCR turns the traditional foodbank on its’ head, providing clients with both short- and long-term solutions to help them out of food poverty for good. Our wraparound service includes our Foodbank on-wheels and Community Grocers on-wheels (all our food support services are delivery based), as well as seasonal projects and Learn with Humans – free, educational classes equipping clients with the tools and skills they need to thrive on their own.
The cost-of-living crisis has taken a massive toll on both our clients and our organisation – our foodbank in particular is busier than ever and we are feeding up to 500 clients per week.
One such client, A, contacted us in crisis. She was experiencing multiple points of deprivation; housing, mental health and was struggling to feed herself and her three children. Her health made it difficult for her to leave the house and as such as was unable to access traditional foodbanks. We worked with her and offered her a food parcel every fortnight, including fresh food to ensure her children got the nutrition they needed. When she is in a more stable situation, we will offer her a space on our Grocers list, creating a more sustainable way to feed her family without the supermarket price tag. She said, "The help from Humans MCR has had a really positive effect on my mental health – it has meant that I can stop worrying about where food is coming from, and free up some money to pay my gas bill. Thank you!"
The £1000 from the Spirit of Manchester Fund has allowed us to continue to support clients like A – the fund helped to repair our main delivery van (without which we wouldn’t be able to continue our vital services!) – which will provide impact for months and years to come.
Benchill Community Centre.
"The aim of our project is to bring people together from all communities, ensuring people are valued for their own individuality and skills. That communities are supported to work together, to make a difference to their lives and to their community.
We have been supporting JB, a single parent with three young children for over seven months. JB and her youngest child have been coming to our Winter Warmer sessions three times a week since we started the project in October 2022 and the older children come along during school holidays. We have supported the family with breakfast, lunch and drinks throughout the winter, this has eased the burden of having to heat their home and reduced their food bills. The family have also taken advantage of the children’s clothes and toy bank that we set up over Christmas and any donations of food and other items that have been donated to us from places such as the Bideford Centre. Staff and volunteers at the centre are always on hand to chat to JB and offer support and advice when needed. JB has grown in confidence and now supports the Winter Warmer/Laugh and Lunch project as a volunteer and is happy to give her opinions on what services and advice we can offer to support members of the community throughout the cost of living crisis.
Due to the cost of living crisis, we are seeing more people attending our Winter Warmer/Laugh and Lunch Projects for support, advice, a hot meal and other people to talk to. The food bank is much busier and we are offering a lot more support to people wanting to get back into work through our IT and Job Club sessions. The Spirit of Manchester funding that we received will enable us to continue to run what is now the Laugh and Lunch Project supporting local residents when they need it the most."
King Foundation
"We try to help, support and mentor young boys/youths between the ages of 11 to 21, providing them with life toolkits to becoming gentlemen and responsible men, giving them proper information and guidance on how to stay away from knife crime activities and gangs respectfully with the help of our workshops and seminars, both physical and online (Zoom).
Meanwhile, the struggle has been real, especially in this time of cost of living crisis and a lot of financial struggles that is worse than what we have all experienced years ago. Obviously, it started from the pandemic and until now, a lot of families around our area and community are still finding it difficult to stand tall because of financial struggles and high cost of living which we get to speak with everyone around the need to stand together and comments among the parents also during our workshops and seminars. We as an organisation have also been affected as well as our families, also reminding me of the costs for the venues that we normally use for our workshops which has been increased by the venue owners as well as other materials that we get to buy.
With the help of the £1000 grant, we were able to reach out to as many families as possible within that amount, providing them food stuffs like a bag of rice, carton of tomatoes, groundnut oil and noodles for each family. I was shocked and so surprised at the feedback and responses from the families who benefited from the food stuffs. The feedback was amazing and touching which melted my heart and made me so emotional.
There were so many positive words from the families but there was one family in particular that was crying the moment we delivered the food items to them. This lady was crying and was saying they had never received any gift in their life and that she was just telling her daughter to go to the kitchen and look for what to cook for her younger brother. As a single mother it has been difficult for her and then she said the struggle has been real so the moment she saw the food items, she broke down and started crying which really got to me as well and this has also encouraged me to do more charity and to reach out to many other people possible if the opportunity arises again but all thanks to the grant and to you people.
To be honest, the cost of living is now affecting people's incomes, like another family who also benefited from the grant said that at the end of every month after paying their rents and other direct debit bills, it is usually very difficult for their kids to have extra stuff at home as they now have to measure the things and food at home which they would normally not do so I can boldly say that this grant has touched lives and we cannot wait to have this same opportunity to carry out this project again." Gerald, King Foundation
MASH (Manchester Action on Street Health)
"At MASH, we are proud to stand with women who sex work and support them in achieving good health, safety and emotional wellbeing. Unfortunately, this is increasingly challenging with the Cost of Living Crisis. More and more women are struggling with poverty and finding it hard to make ends meet.
That is why we have set up a Hardship Fund to provide essential support to women in moments of financial crisis. Through this fund, we have been able to offer practical help to women who need it the most. From a mobile phone to stay connected, to a weekly bus pass to attend medical appointments, or even kitchen utensils to cook themselves a decent meal, our support has made a huge difference in their daily lives.
For some women, the Hardship Fund has given them their dignity back. We recently helped a woman who had been struggling with her mental health and had lost her dentures. As she began to recover, she felt increasingly self-conscious about her appearance and needed dentures to attend important meetings with confidence. She had saved up most of the money. With our Hardship Fund, we were able to help her cover the remaining cost of the dentures, giving her the boost she needed to put her best foot forward and succeed.
“These dentures made such a huge difference, they preserved her dignity and helped her to function day to day with confidence” Jane, MASH frontline staff
We are extremely grateful to the Spirit of Manchester for contributing to our Hardship Fund. This money has made a real impact on the lives of the women we support, enabling them to overcome financial difficulties and achieve greater independence, health, and wellbeing. Thank you for standing with us and helping us make a difference in the lives of some of the women who are most impacted by the Cost of Living Crisis."
Legacy901 CIC
Legacy901 CIC manages Legacy 90.1FM, a community radio station in Moss Side that serves the African and Caribbean communities of Manchester by providing a platform to amplify Black voices. The station was set up by local community members who saw a gap in mainstream radio. In late 2021, we hosted Let’s Talk, 11 shows discussing the impact of Covid on our community. The Spirit of Manchester Award will contribute towards similar community shows discussing the cost of living crisis during 2023.
One person we interviewed was a healthy college tutor who found himself disconnected from his students and frustrated at not being able to support them face-to-face. He was a carer for his mother together with his sister and they felt 'trapped' in the house and in their caring role which was made more difficult. His mother died alone in hospital, but they found comfort in her funeral which was held after restrictions on attendees were lifted so family and friends were able to attend. He said he appreciated the opportunity to share his experience. Listeners said the shows helped them as they heard that other people were experiencing the same things they were.
The cost of living shows will have the same outcome. Allowing people to share their experiences. In addition, these shows will include expert advice and participants will be able to share their coping strategies with our listeners. This will provide an added benefit. Our organisation has found that all our revenue streams have reduced with the cost of living crisis just as our operating costs have risen. The cost of living shows will help us as much as our listeners by giving us expert advice as well and helping us to continue our work empowering the Black community and giving Black people a compelling voice.
Barnabus
"Barnabus support people who are rough sleeping, experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. Our support team, support centre and resettlement tenancy project provide support to empower people to move off the streets and out of homelessness into a home. Sadly, we see a lot of hopelessness when people first come to see us and this cost of living crisis is tragically bringing many new people to us for help.
During a period of just six weeks in April and May this year, we helped 352 people. The year before, in the same time, we saw 229 people so that is a 55% increase. We also supported 98 people we have never seen before; this time last year, that number was 53 so almost double. It is a tragic picture of how rising costs of living, spiralling rent, and mortgage costs have created a human cost of the devastating effects of homelessness.
When someone comes in to us after sleeping rough, the first thing we do is offer food, clothing and showers. Only then can they begin to feel refreshed enough to connect with a support worker so that we can begin to help them in their journey back into a home. We also see people who are struggling financially and at risk of losing their homes who need help with food parcels. We have given out 1000s of meals and 100s of food parcels in the last few months. Our latest figures show a 40% increase.
We are so thankful for the Spirit of Manchester grant and for all the support we receive so that together, we can give hope to people who are struggling with homelessness. THANK YOU www.barnabus-manchester.org.uk
This is Jake's story (his name has been changed). Jake was made redundant and he had only been in that job for over a year so he did not qualify for redundancy. He and his partner Kim were trying to make ends meet but during this time, the landlord kept putting their rent up. All their bills increased and food was getting more and more expensive. There was an issue with the flat as it had a leak and was getting damp so Jake and his partner tried to argue their case with the landlord. Within a week, they were served with a Section 21 eviction notice. They had no way to appeal and were forced to leave their home. Kim’s mum put them both up while they looked for another place to live. Sadly, all this money pressure and lack of a home of their own led to their relationship breaking up. Jake became very depressed and he did not have the confidence to apply for a job. He stayed with a friend for a while sofa surfing but when this dried up, Jake came to us for help. Thankfully, Jake now has a home on our Resettlement Tenancy Scheme. It's early days but he has settled in well and we can already see a huge change in his confidence and renewed hope for the future."
