A soup-er celebration in Mossley

Mossley SOUP celebrated its 10th event in style recently.

Attendees at the latest community crowdfunding dinner celebrated the event earlier this month by raising £1,346 for the winning project.

Organisers welcomed more than 170 diners to Emmaus Mossley for the event, sponsored by Tameside Rotary. Diners donated £5 each in return for soup, entertainment, presentations from four local projects and a vote for their favourite project.

The project that secured the most votes on the night was Mini Meditators, helping children and young people with additional needs and disabilities. Through meditation and social interaction, the group aims to give children coping strategies for daily life.

Lindsey Tweed from Mini Meditators said: “Winning Mossley SOUP was fantastic. It was a brilliant night and was really nice to see how many people support us. 

“We can now start new classes, to help more families, whilst also providing more sensory equipment to enhance our sessions. We couldn’t have done it without all of our support and thank everyone who voted for us on the night.”

Along with Mini Meditators, the three other projects appealing for support were Knitting and Crochet Lessons, Incredible Plastic Street Band: Let’s Play and Secure Our Spaces in Mossley.

BUSY: More than 170 Mossley SOUP attendees listen in at the 10th event.

Project presenters had four minutes each to share their idea followed by four questions from the audience. 

In addition to the four project presentations, Mossley SOUP diners enjoyed live music and spoken word from Monologue John Bartley.

As well as entrance donations and £150 donated by Tameside Rotary, the winner’s pot included funds raised from a raffle with prizes donated by Body & Mind Therapy Centre, Doodle Pots, Donkeystone Brewery, The Gillery, Grail Distillery and The Railway Fish & Chips.

Four freshly made soups were prepared by local volunteers Gordon Collinge, Lesley Arnold and Rory Callaghan from The Allotment Cafe. 

Soup ingredients and bread was donated by A Taylor and Son Family Butchers, JW Buckley’s Bakery and greengrocers R Noone and Son.

Over ten events, Mossley SOUP attendees and supporters have raised more than £10k for local projects and initiatives. 

Project ideas are being sought from individuals, artists, community groups, charities and businesses for the next SOUP event on June 18.

For more information, to submit a proposal and for details of future Mossley SOUP events, head to http://bit.ly/MossleySOUP.

Main image:

WINNERS: Dave Jones from Mossley SOUP with the Mini Meditators team and Peter Holden from Tameside Rotary.