Marys Child

We are a charity that works on the ground. We help people who find themselves in financial crisis for whatever reason. Initially we help by providing food parcels and other essential items they may need. This can be anything from cutlery to a cooker or washing machine. We then offer support, we have a team of two family support workers, who will go and meet the individuals or families and see how we can help them come out of crisis and prevent it from happening again. There are so many reasons people end up in crisis, loss of a partner, Job, having a breakdown etc. The family support team will then devise a plan on how to help their clients. It may mean they refer to me as a lawyer, who will help with any issues surrounding family, welfare and benefits or housing. They may just need the support from the family support team, who will walk alongside them for however long it takes. We work with the NHS Recovery College East, who run short courses to help with motivation, self esteem or dealing with stress and anxiety. We treat our clients like family. All our staff have had some experience of crisis, which we feel keeps us real and able to interact with people who are struggling. Three of our staff members, were ex-clients, who we walked alongside them and helped them access training and opportunities. It is like watching a flower grow. We also run two cafés. One in Stanground on a Wednesday, and one in Orton Goldhay on a Friday. We do not charge for our food or drinks, and we offer good quality food, freshly homemade cakes. Some people just come for companionship others, it will probably be the only hot meal they will have that week. We operate on a donation basis, and yet, we haven’t made a loss.

We also offer free legal advice under certain circumstances.