M&S Mansfield

We are a non-profit Community Investment Company based in Shirebrook, near Mansfield Nottinghamshire. Our group is volunteer led involving a range of people that live in and around Shirebrook.. Our aim is to improve the local community and surrounding areas by creating the conditions that allow people to come together to help and support one another. We support some of the most disadvantaged families in Shirebrook via our food projects and also pass on household items to people in need. We run a Community Fridge - which is based in our community venue called The Hole in the Wall. All our food donations go into here and get shared out during our open sessions on Thursdays and Fridays. This is open to all. Please call in if you haven't already :) We also run a variety of activities and events throughput the year too, as well as our regular crafty chat group on Mondays, tea & toast group on Tuesdays and our art group on Fridays. All profits are invested back into both pre-existing and new initiatives. We have further ambitions to deliver on wider, community-based initiatives, that are derived from extensive research and have been co-designed with the local community, service partners and local businesses alike. "Being Kind in Shirebrook" is our pledge that holds us all to account.

We feed the homeless on a Wednesday night from 6.30pm at 24-26 Church Street Mansfield and give out food parcels consisting of breakfast items, tinned goods, items to add boiling water to such as noodles, soups, pasta etc. We provide much needed toiletries and sanitary products each week as well as offering access to clean clothes and shoes. We source camping items to make them a little more comfortable such as tents, sleeping bags, roll mats, tarpaulins, stoves and gas, cooking equipment, torches, lanterns etc. We can only do this with the continued support of the local businesses that already back us, but if other companies got involved we could do so much more.

The Beacon Project supports the local homeless & vulnerably housed adults in Mansfield. We are a voluntary organisation and are entirely reliant on donations, grants and gifts of food, and have been running for over 20 years. Our clients need help & support due to social deprivation – we meet them where they are at, in the moment, & endeavour to move them on when they are ready & able. Many have mental health & addiction issues. Many also have health issues related to long term substance misuse & living on the street. A large proportion are also ex-offenders & veterans often with PTSD etc, all of which means they are often very isolated, & living quite dysfunctional lives. We provide a range of services including signposting, help, advice & support to enhance physical, social, emotional & spiritual wellbeing. We are a safe space where: • Each person feels valued and cared for, & recognised as an individual not just a number • We provide food for the hungry – hot meals twice a week & food parcels on a Friday. • We give access to showers, laundry & clean clothes, sleeping bags & tents as needed, especially for the homeless • Relationships are built based on trust by listening to their needs & then advocating to outside agencies where necessary including those related to housing, addictions, health & well-being, debt & money management, benefits, and gaining settled status. • We aim to raise self-esteem in order to promote change in their lives, enabling them to function as members of society & reconnect with their families (where possible).