The Winter Bag Project - Part 2

Update on the Winter Bag Project:

The first write-up on our winter project can be found here.

We are able to confirm that each bag costs £10.50. We have ordered 20 bags so far and 11 of those have been sponsored. We are also estimating that the contents (essential + personalised items) should cost no more than £20. We were advised that the items should not be expensive.

Here are the essential items that must go into the bag:
Hats/Gloves/Socks/Scarves
(All of the above should be for winterwear) for men/women
Underwear (men/women)
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Shampoo
Shower Gel

The personalised item that you can add:
Thermal wear (men/women)
Warm Jacket/Jumpers (men/women)
Bin bags/(Long lasting) Shopping bag
Blanket
Towel
Small torches
Laundry powder
Baby wipes
Razor & Shaving foam (for men) and Sanitary protection (for women)
Cereal bars

If you wish to sponsor a bag only (£10.50), a bag + contents ( up to£30), or contents only (up to £20), please do let us know. For the second and third options, you have two options:

1. You can buy the contents yourself.
2. We can buy the contents for you.

Thank you for your kind support.

The Winter Bag Project

Come and get involve with our very first winter project!  

A good hot meal is always welcome in winter but for the rough sleepers who have basically no shelter, security of their belonging and warmth is just as important.  One of our regular donors suggested months back about giving out bags to these rough sleepers but at the time, we did not have the capacity to act on the idea.  But as we seek to slow down our voucher issues in these couple of months to transition to a new mode of operation, we would still like to help out the vulnerable in Edinburgh and decided to revisit the idea.

From my own conversation with some of the rough sleepers before, they face difficulty in keeping their things together and secure.  Now, with all the shops charging 5p per carrier bags, it is even more difficult for them to get hold of carrier bags to store and keep their things dry.  As winter sets in and the weather gets wetter and colder, they will need warm things and ability to keep them dry.  So a waterproof bag with some essential warm things and a waterproof mat/tarp will be quite useful for them.  That is why we are calling this project the 'WINTER BAG PROJECT'.  We would like you to get involved in the project in one of these three ways:

1.  Sponsor a bag and its contents (and you can add a personalised item as well)

2.  Sponsor a bag only (we will match you with someone doing the third option)

3.  Sponsor and personalise the contents of a bag

You can do it individually or get together with friends.  The costs and more details will be made available as we progress.  But please signal us your interest by emailing to us at mealonme.edinburgh@gmail.com as soon as possible because we would like to issue out the bags in December.  Thank you!

October's Update

Introduction

Dear All,

Thank you for your support this month.  Your support has been so important to us and those who have been using the vouchers.  This month, we are in the process of consolidating our processes and establishing new protocols given we want to become a charity and also expand our network of cafes.  Therefore this is a transition period and we appreciate the patience of our donors and our service users as we make the adjustments.  We have tried to minimise the issuing of vouchers these few months to enable us to transition better to fit a new model of operation.  We understand that the money we are holding should not be kept in the bank and so we are also thinking of a way to still benefit the more vulnerable in the society while we are undergoing the transition to the new mode of operation.


Main News

1.  We have submitted and awaiting results on our charity status application.  It will take up to three months for the process so we are hoping to get the charity status by early next year.

2.  We had our largest fundraising event of the year where we had a lot of fun.  Please find a sample of the photos of the event further along the page.  One feedback by our guest:
 "we had a great day. all the activites were well oraganised and intresting . kids had great fun and remember most the science corner . cant stop talking about the volcano ,mixing the soda and other ingredientsand watching it erupt"

3.  We are in the process of expanding to new cafes/food outlets.  Keep a lookout for further updates on this.  A place we are considering: a bake potato shop.

4.  We are also hoping to expand our services to other organisations.

5.  We are looking to start our first big project to prepare the more vulnerable in Edinburgh for the winter...information to follow.


Accounts and Voucher Usage

Below are our accounts for this month.  Basically we raised a net of £495.86 from our fundraising event.  This month 47 vouchers were redeemed with our main users being One Parent Families.  We are issuing out 30 vouchers for this month and trying to close the gap on the number of vouchers that have yet to be redeemed.

Bank Statement		Pound
Date	Description	Dr	Cr
9/28/2014	Balance C/F	£536.74
10/6/2014	SS	£5.00
10/7/2014	Funraise change		-£50.00
10/13/2014	Lidl for fundraise		-£3.38
10/13/2014	Costco for fundraise		-£150.07
10/13/2014	Payment from Member for Costco	£25.00
10/14/2014	Payment for Venue & Bouncy Castle		-£60.00
10/14/2014	Payment from Member for Costco	£69.81
10/27/2014	SA	£50.00
10/27/2014	MS	£15.00
10/27/2014	N Kadirova	£50.00
10/30/2014	Transferred from cash	£729.50
9/28/2014	Total October	£1,481.05	-£263.45
9/28/2014	Balance C/F	£1,217.60

Cash		Pound
Date	Description	Dr	Cr
10/1/2014	Melinda	£5.00
10/4/2014	NM	£50.00
10/14/2014	Fundraise	£664.50
10/24/2014	Lorraine	£10.00
10/30/2014	Tranferred to Bank		-£729.50
8/28/2014	Total October	£729.50	-£729.50

Fundraising Photos

You can find more photos of the event here care of one of our guests.