Mums in care package mission to help more in need

Nine local mums are continuing to help the community through their 'Mums on a Mission' venture.

The mums, who are all friends from Denton, Reddish and Gorton, established the group in October of this year and began preparing food packages for students’ during the half-term holidays. 

The mums’ motivation for creating the group came after one of them happened to ask a ten-year-old child if they were looking forward to their half-term break, only to be told they weren’t, because they couldn’t be sure they’d get any lunch at home.

The mums described the response as ‘utterly heartbreaking’ and should not be the case in 2020.

Two months on and the mums’ Facebook page has more than 2,000 active members, allowing them to provide packages for the whole community and not just schools.

In response, each food package now contains items such as tinned meat, potatoes, loaves of bread, long life milk, pasta, rice, toilet roll, sanitary items for ladies, toothpaste and laundry detergent. The group managed to deliver 125 of these in just five days.

Deliveries have been far and wide too, with the group helping the vulnerable across Denton, the Heatons, Stockport, Glossop, Wythenshawe and further afield.

Co-founder of the group, Samantha Latham, said: “What we do is so important because people are slipping through the cracks, it’s not just people on benefits, it’s people that have had jobs and businesses going under because of the pandemic.

“Those just underneath the breadline are struggling most because it’s their first time putting in claims for benefits and the turnaround isn’t quick enough.

“We didn’t realise how many people were in need, but it’s becoming more and more apparent how much of an issue it is.”

To get in touch with the mums go to the Mums on a Mission Facebook page, or donate at their GoFundMe page https://uk.gofundme.com/f/mums-on-a-mission