SOUTHWARK MUTUAL AID AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT GROUP

by SOUTHWARK MUTUAL AID AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT GROUP in London, Greater London, United Kingdom

SOUTHWARK MUTUAL AID AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT GROUP

Total raised £0

£2,500 target 20 days left
0% 0 supporters
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 23rd November 2024 at 7:10pm

HELLO,We aim to help people all across the Borough&London, with all types of issues including family hardship,disability,domestic violence

by SOUTHWARK MUTUAL AID AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT GROUP in London, Greater London, United Kingdom

HELLO TO ALL AND WE HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL.

  THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ OUR STORY, AND FOR OPENING YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS TO THOSE WE HELP.

 OUR HISTORY AND BEGINNINGS:

We started Life in 2019 as a COVID Support Group, assisting the Local Community with things that were key and essential at that time randing from food, meals, prescription collection and grocery shopping etc as well as hot meal service and visiting our elderly,shielding and isolating members and distributing face masks and gloves as well as hot meals and drinks  to our street homeless communities to help prevent further spread where possible.

 We also kept our local NHS Paramedics and our NHS staff at both The Maudsley Hospital and also at Kings College Hospital fed for a long period on shift when their own canteens were closed due to the Pandemic 

 Then we had our Pandemic Christmas so we spent that preparing hampers ,cooking dinners and sourcing gifts and presents and decorations and trees and distributing these to families, individuals and groups who otherwise would have had nothing .. 

  OUR GROUP NOW:

 THANKFULLY COVID,at least in Pandemic terms,is now a thing of the past and the scale much reduced.

 Our Group however continues to go from strength to strength both in numbers and in terms of the support we offer, the projects we are operating or seeking to operate and the number of people we help and who are involved.

  We now run more as a general Community Support Group and support with pretty much anything and everything that someone may need.

No two days are ever the same and we help in such varied and fast paced dynamic situations that can vary not only day to day and week to week but even hour to hour .

  We have our core services that we offer on an ongoing basis such as fresh cooked meal distribution, sandwiches,hot drinks rounds and then also distribution of Comfort Packs and Hygiene packs for our Homeless friends to stay clean, dry and fresh with essentials, toiletries, sanitary and underwear and socks 

  We also have our ongoing system of collecting and sourcing  clothing ,household and toys and games for those who are struggling financially or who have arrived either new to the borough, or a Refugee's or temporarily housed people.

   We have a great deal of newly arrived or temporarily housed people in the borough and due to being unable to access other resources for immigration,or settlement reasons we support them with everything they need to get settled.

  Then we support them in an ongoing transitional way to feed into other Community Services and outreach as and when they can and to engage with both our group and wider groups 

  We also offer online Zoom English ESOL classes for this .

   As well as that, we support people who don't have Laundry or cooking facilities where they are temporarily housed so this can involved funding Launderette visits and accompanying them to the launderette to facilitate this and show how to work everything.

  We assist A LOT of people both women and men fleeing or attempting to escape situations of Domestic Violence and for this we need access to resources very quickly as we often get them out very quickly when the opportunity arises and this is often late at night and at short notice often requiring sourcing emergency first and second night or more accommodation until a safe and viable alternative can be found by local authority etc if and where they are entitled.

  This also usually involves sourcing hot food, groceries and often emergency clothing and toiletries for a while family as many will leave literally in the clothes they have on 

  As well as this we often buy new toys and books for the children who will have had to leave them behind to get out safely and this is on a par with our newly arrived people .

    As well as that ongoing work we run year round signposting and link ups to services, group activities and meals ,daytrips to prevent isolation where we can fund them but we would love to be able to offer more and are looking to start some more weekly groups so people can connect on a weekly basis.

    We are linked into a lot of the other local groups and Services and are well known in both our borough having won an award from the Mayor of Southwark for our work and working alongside other key services and charities in the area and across London.

  We often receive referrals and have advice sought frim.partmer agencies and much bigger organisations as well as other local mutual aid groups because where the Charities have more funding and resources they take longer to be able to offer things where we act in a more urgent way and address the need there and then which they can't always do due to the processing times 

    WE ALSO DO HAMPERS,GIFTS, DECORATIONS AND EVEN TREES AT KEY POINTS AND HOLIDAYS  THROUGH THE SEASONS ALONG WITH A GOME.COOKED CHRISTMAS MEAL AND DELIVER THESE TO THOSE WHO WOULDN'T OTHERWISE GET TO HAVE ONE.

  The issue with that is that we DON'T have any funding as we are  MUTUAL AID GROUP/COMMUNITY GROUP as opposed to a CHARITY So we aren't funded or supported in the smw way and have to raise our own funds and fundraising ideas.

    Hence why we are now appealing for FUNDS here to source all the things we need to assist the various groups of people we support and so that we can have things in stock on an ongoing basis so the response time remains as seamless as possible and so that in emergencies we can go and purchase things we need urgently for people or to accommodate them at short notice etc while they await other support .

   WE HAVE RELIED UPON THE GROUP MEMBERS AND SOME OUTSIDE SUPPORT FROM LOCAL BUSINESSES AND GROUPS AS WELL AS INDIVIDUALS.

   WE HAVE ALWAYS ADVERTISED FOR THESE VERY MUCH ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS BUT AFTER TALKS WITH SEVERAL CORE MEMBERS OF OUR GROUP, WE KNOW THEY WOULD RATHER CONTRIBUTE INTO A FUND SO WE CAN SIMPLY USE THE MONEY AS NEEDED AND IN A SEAMLESS WAY WHERE THEY CAN PAY IN REGULARLY.

  WHILST WE WORK ON THAT, WE THOUGHT WE WOULD TRY THIS AS A WAY OF GATHERING FUNDS FOR USE ON AN ONGOING BASIS AND SEE IF THIS PROVIDES A NORE SEAMLESS WAY TO DO THINGS.

   PLEASE NOTE OUR NEXT IMMEDIATE LARGE SCALE COSTS WILL BE AUTUMN/WINTER  CLOTHING INCLUDING HATS,GLOVES,SCARVES AND THERMALS AND THEN CHRISTMAS HAMPERS ,GIFTS, MEALS AND OF COURSE ONGOING FUEL/LAUNDRY  ASSISTANCE FOR THOSE NOT ENTITLED TO OTHER SUPPORT .

     IF YOU ARE IN A POSITION TO HELP US TO HELP MORE PEOPLE AND WOULD LIKE TO HELP  SOMEONE SMILE EVEN IN DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES ,PLEASE DONATE BELOW AND HELP US REACH MORE PEOPLE .

   THIS IS A LOCAL GRASS ROOTS ORGANISATION CHANGING LIVES IN A LOCAL WAY AND ALSO LONDON WIDE

   IN SOLIDARITY, 

SOUTHWARK MUTUAL AID AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT GROUP 🙏💚

 

 

  


  

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