2020 has been an obstacle course with challenges and changes we have all had to adjust to. Families have been left without support; many have lost jobs; businesses have closed or completely restructured. It has been a tough year for most!!
49% of families, approximately 300,000 households, with dependent children in Scotland have found themselves, "in serious financial difficulty," or "struggling to make ends meet," due to the pandemic. Lone parents, women (particularly those who are black or of minority ethnicity), young mothers, and families with a disabled parent or child are particularly at risk of being forced into further poverty because of this pandemic, through no fault of their own!
What Did MsMissMrs Do to Help?
But, as many of you already know, MsMissMrs is not one to sit around and wait for things to blow over. So, we rolled up our sleeves, got the aprons on, and got cooking to support those families finding it difficult during lockdown in our community. We decanted to our very own kitchen, FEMFoods and our team started to batch cook meals, packing food bags, and delivering them to local families. With the help of FareShare and a further, massive, 95 food shop trips, we provided 15,000 food meals which included nourishing meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, along with plenty of fruit and snacks. And of course, we did not stop there. The team also gifted 29 toy packs, we spent over £4000 providing essential white-goods such as freezers and microwaves to those who needed them, along with helping around gas & electricity!
It was important to us not only to provide food and financial support but to support people’s mental wellbeing also. We knew the impact this year would have on a lot of people’s mental health; women and girls found themselves home all day, no longer with school, work, or friends to hang out with. We sent out 94 wellbeing packs, including our Get S.E.T workbooks, to support those needing a little help during this hard time.
And as many businesses did, we adapted: Get S.E.T went digital! Over lockdown, 25 girls joined our workshop online, empowering them to prioritise their self-esteem and self-care, and gaining an ASDAN qualification in health and wellbeing while they did so, which is just, amazing. We’re so proud of the girls!
Where We Are Now
In October, we successfully launched our new childcare space, Unruly Curiosity (‘a place where children lead’). We ran an amazing workshop with Brickz4Kidz, which received some great feedback from both kids and parents. Our aim for Unruly Curiosity is to allow mums to meet other amazing women; to free up some time for mums to have to themselves; to create a space for children to lead, learn, be creative; and of course to meet MsMissMrs.
As we continue to adjust to the ongoing changes that this pandemic throws at us, we are still discovering new ways to reshape our projects and workshops at MsMissMrs.
We have now launched our brand new product range that we are very excited about! We have fabulous aprons, sassy tote bags, and empowering cards to let a loved one know you are thinking of them through these times.
Our Thanks…..
The pandemic has been a strange hurdle in all our lives and is in no way over yet. We are so grateful to have received £8000 in donations over lockdown, and to those who continue to frequently support us with fundings, purchases, and sharing our message. We thank everyone wholeheartedly for their support. Every single penny we receive from product sales or donations and funding, go right back into our project, allowing us to continue the amazing & beneficial work that we do with women and girls.
Anyone wishing to continue to support us, we would love you to check out our new products on our website and keep your eye on our social media channels for all the work we continue to do!
Love,
MsMissMrs Team x
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