Below is a short story written by Jez who runs the Freedom Project here at the Mustard Tree.  The project is aimed at helping those who face major barriers such as homelessness, addiction or offending to rebuild and progress into meaningful and sustainable activity.  Jez does an excellent job and is hugely appreciated by those on the project, as you can see he is also a talented writer.   Although this story has no direct connection to The Freedom Project, we thought it was worth sharing and actually we hear real life stories that are no less tragic each week.

Hanging Shoes

Deano sat on the kerb, face in his hands, bawling. I’d told him he was too young to come with us, but he wouldn’t listen.

Kelvin stared menacingly at me, one of Deano’s grubby trainers in each hand.

“You are such a wuss,” he declared.

“Am not. I just don’t wanna do it.”

Deano’s mum would kill him. Ever since his dad went, she’d been a bit loopy. I’d seen her lay into him before and it had scared the shit out of me.

Kelvin scowled and spat on the ground. “Fine. You’re next, pea-brain.”

“You’re the pea-brain…”

Kelvin swung round and punched me hard in the stomach. I didn’t expect it, and the ferocity of the blow shocked me. Winded and shaken, it was all I could do to lie on the pavement and try to catch my breath.

Marcus laughed at this point: a cold, mocking snigger. He gripped my ankles and started to pull off my trainers. I writhed as hard as I could: they were only a couple of weeks old and I loved them. DC’s. Black with a gold emblem near the heel. More than mum could really afford; but I’d begged her. They weren’t laced up of course, so they came off all too easily, despite my attempts to wriggle away.

Kelvin had already tied Deano’s shoelaces together and was launching the coupled trainers high into the air, time and again. Eventually he succeeded. They dangled cheerfully from the overhead wire, still swinging from the momentum of being thrown. My DC’s soon followed, snagged on Marcus’s second attempt.

Deano, still crying, had run off. He didn’t make it all the way home. Blinded by tears and awkward in his grimy socks, he stumbled near a kerb and lurched into a Transit van. Those swaying trainers reminded him of the day he’d found his dad two years ago, I just knew it.

I’m glad I wasn’t in anyone else’s shoes that day.

This evening, 17th October, we are due to be be on Channel 4′s Secret Millionaire programme.  We had the pleasure of Chris Brown’s company for three days, at the time we thought he was a harmless wannabe photographer, it turned out he was not quite what we expected!  You’ll see the results for yourself if you watch Channel 4 at 9pm tonight.

If you are a first time visitor to our site as a result of watching the programme, welcome!  You may just be popping in out of curiousity in which case ‘hello’.   If, however, you are wondering how you can get involved, support and or just learn more about the Mustard Tree then you have come to the right place.  Feel free to click through the site and get a feel for what we are about, join our facebook group or follow us on Twitter.  If having found out a bit more you are still interested in being involved then please call  on 0161 2287331 and follow instruction to speak to Paul or Lydia.   Alternatively, email us at office@mustardtree.co.uk.

If you are more of a hands-on type and want to see things first hand for yourself, please feel free to pay a visit to our base in Ancoats at 110 Oldham Road, Manchester, M4 6AG, we’d love to show you around (between 10am and 4:30pm).

If you missed the programme the first time around follow this link to watch it again –  http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-secret-millionaire/4od#3129925

Many Thanks

The Mustard Tree Team

Winners of the Manchester Community Foodie Award.

We are delighted to be able to say that we are the very happy winners of this year’s Manchester Food and Drink Festival Community Food Award.  This was awarded to us in recognition of our good use of food in various projects including: volunteer community Kitchen, cookery classes, soup runs and community Food Safety training.

The Mustard Tree aims to support a diverse range of people including those who struggle to provide good quality, healthy food for themselves and their families.  We work with organisations such as Sainsburys, Hollands Pies, Quayside Bakeries and Fareshare to make sure people in this situation can eat healthily and well.  By doing this we help divert food waste and support those who have hit difficult times.  We are also in the middle of harvest time and have been greatly blessed, alongside the excellent Booth Centre, to receive huge amounts of food from Churches and Schools across Greater Manchester.

Although food doesn’t solve the long term issues and complex situations that many of our clients face it can make bigger difference than many expect.  To someone who is struggling to survive living on the streets, being served with a decent, tasty and filling plate of food not only fills the stomach but suggests that that person is still worth being cooked and cared for.  For those who often feel neglected and given up on, a plate of warm food suggests the opposite and can help start the journey of finding hope and rebuilding.

So it is with very rewarding to have been given this award and we will continue to strive to provide good food for those who really need it.

Thank you to all who voted for us.

Last Friday saw the our first ever exhibition of creativity, hosted by Graham Hudson.  It was a great evening with people travelling from across Greater Manchester to appreciate some beautiful art and hear talented musicians.

Around 100 people turned up on the Friday and admired the work, Graham and others artists also managed to sell some of their art and raised a healthy amount towards Mustard Tree’s new social enterprise, StandFirm.

Thank you to everyone involved, to all the artists and to those who visited over the course of the weekend.

Freedom Project Progression Coordinator

The Freedom Project is one of the projects that The Mustard Tree uses to help support the homeless and Marginalised in Manchester.  It is a highly popular and effective project that works to help those with major barriers to employment towards work readiness.

We are looking for a Progression Coordinator who is highly motivated with excellent people skills.  Ideally the candidate has experience of working in partnership with agencies and employers as well as with people from disadvantaged backgrounds.  The individual will need to help trainees on the Freedom Project to progress into further education, training or employment in a manner that values each individual and acknowledges their personal needs.

Salary: £16,500 – £18,500 per annum.  37.5 hours per week, Mon-Fri, with occasional out of hours work required.

Closing date for applications is 5th November 2010.

For a job description and information pack contact:

Janet Wong, The Mustard Tree,110 Oldham Road, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 6AG.  Tel: 0161 228 7331

e-mail: office@mustardtree.co.uk

On Thursday evening we hosted around 140 ladies from across Manchester who came for an evening of pampering, food and entertainment.  Everyone went away with full stomachs, a cosmetics goody bag, bras and feeling pampered.

It was great to see such a wonderful mix of ladies all laughing, chatting and even singing together.  We still have some washing and tidying up left to do but it was very much worth it.

The evening wouldn’t have happened with an incredibly committed and hard working team of volunteers who cooked, cleaned, served, waitered, sung and generally worked wonders.  We’d also like to thank the many company’s who contributed generously to the evening, including: Shloer, Ann Jordan PR, Loreal, Body Shop, Lush, Boots, Vidal Sassoon, Primark, Neal’s Yard, Toni and Guy, Ineedpampering.com, Lucile and Fareshare.  Thank you!

Finally, thank you to all the ladies from across the UK who donated bras.  We have received them ladies from far flung places; from Guernsey to Edinburgh.  We’d particularly like to thank the Mothers Union who mobiles their groups and have donated a huge number of bras.

Our next event is the Art Experience on Friday, hosted by our resident artist Graham Hudson, all are welcome.