M&S Mere Green

We are a group of all volunteers set up in May 2021. We seek to help individuals and families within North Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield area who are experiencing financial hardship and as a consequence are suffering from food poverty. We will actively work collaboratively with others to use and then redistribute surplus food to aim to ensure that no food goes to waste. We will provide a food bank to provide ambient and fresh food parcels to local communities.

Our cause is to feed the homeless, the vulnerable and whosoever needs help. For years, we use to go out on a weekly basis to feed the homeless in the City Centre. There were some extremely cold nights. We had asked the Homeless and the Vulnerable to come to us to eat and enjoy our safe, warm space. We had started this in July 2023 and every week the numbers are increasing. Not only do they enjoy our food as it’s cooked and prepared with love, our Service Users also bask in our warm space and enjoy chatting to each other and to our volunteers. Not only do they love to natter, they also have the liberty of making loads of tea/coffee and having biscuits. At Christmas, we use to collect them from the Bus stop at Carrs Lane Birmingham City Centre and bring them to have their annual Christmas party. Last year, they will be making their way to us to have their annual lovely Christmas meal, presents, clothing and toiletries. We also run food banks twice a week where we serve the Community, vulnerable Adults and the Homeless. We are there for the Community and even in Summer we had run “snack & chat” for a couple of months where we had invited our neighbours to come for coffee and a light snack. The neighbours welcomed that gesture and suggested that we should continue to do it on a yearly basis. We thoroughly enjoy supporting the homeless, the vulnerable, our neighbours and the Community. We are based in Aston which is one of the deprived areas in Birmingham.

Our Church aims to be a God-centred oasis in the centre of Sutton Coldfield. We provide a range of Christian religious services and also use our premises for a variety of community-related activities. These include: - a community cafe - Cafe Oasis, operating 3 days each week -a food bank - Food4U - a parish nursing service - offering whole person advice and support - a parent and toddlers group - a full suite of age-related Scout and Guide groups for young people - a thriving university of the Third Age for older folk Our mission statement includes the phrase 'all are welcome'.