Helping the Mission
In previous years, Merewyn has held the FSB West Yorkshire Pants event at the Huddersfield Mission and has always been on hand to share posts on social media or do other shouts outs to help them to reach a wider audience. The Pants event is created to bring the small business community together for a Christmas catch up, and bring along (new) pants & socks to be donated which are given to the Mission’s service users (understandably, they can’t accept used underwear).
Find out more about this years FSB Pants event here – https://www.sayerssolutions.co.uk/blogs/2022/fsb-pants-2022/
Or book your ticket to attend – https://www.fsb.org.uk/event-calendar/fsb-pants-event-08dec2022.html
Merewyn is very supportive of the work the Mission do – The support that is provided to those most in need in society.
When catching up with the team, they mentioned they were planning to renovate the café, however needed paint. After the call Merewyn kept thinking of a decorating contact she had made from BNI Terriers. So she rang him and he just happened to have a load of paint that had been mixed incorrectly and was happy to drop it off at the Mission. Incidentally the decorator had just recently sub-contracted for the main contractor, and had painted the front of the Mission.
Also, in the catch-up call, there was discussion of needing a till for the café and Merewyn mentioned her thoughts on having a dummy till in the Freestyle Clothing Store that had just opened. So contacted her wonderful client and local IT Hardware & Software solutions provider, FileDoc. They were only too happy to assist Beth Currie and her team of volunteers at the Mission, in collaboration with Sayers Solutions to provide the tills to the Mission.
The reason for this dummy till stemmed from watching Maid (a Netflix series) with the idea being that it’d make the store feel and look…like an ordinary store!
The purpose of it is to essentially create an immersive environment while gradually restoring control and identity to those who are in need.
Getting the opportunity to pick and choose your own clothes and paying for them yourself is an example of empowerment that has both a psychological and functional benefit. You’re probably thinking that instead of ‘acting’ the Mission could simply hand out money and send people off to go to a regular store and buy clothes. However, empowerment and confidence come from doing something for yourself and in your own way, not just from being informed about it or instructed to do it.
Homelessness is still very much an issue
Although previous Pants events have been great fun (Merewyn is always up for a mince pie and a brew!), we must not forget the reason why we are there.
Numerous factors, including the rising cost of living, are contributing to the increasing number of people who are homeless now and who may eventually lose their homes in the near future. A growing number of people are facing homelessness or living in uncertainty, according to government data (Gov.uk, 2022). Therefore, in the upcoming months and years, there will be a large number of individuals and families that will require aid.
Additionally, approaching winter, temperatures are dropping. Every year, the weather catches us off guard with how chilly and gloomy it can get. For those who are homeless, this rapidly gives way to despair since rough sleeping is difficult at all times, but it can be particularly brutal in the winter. Dark evenings and chilly weather is not only intolerable but also pose a serious health danger. This is why donating any items of clothing- coats, jumpers & socks, and especially pants, will help keep people a little warmer during the cold winter months.
If you would like to find out more about the Huddersfield Mission & the work they do, please contact the centre.
References:
Live tables on homelessness (n.d.) GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness#statutory-homelessness-live-tables (Accessed: November 9, 2022).