We were so lucky to meet Will and Chris from Fun Giraffle last week.
They have generously offered a MASSIVE raffle with all proceeds coming in to us!
You could win: £100 Amazon Gift Card and a Champagne Hamper (worth over £100).
This hamper includes:
• Bottle of Moet champagne
• Bottle of Palacio Del Conde Red wine
• A Cheese selection with pickle, cheese board and crackers
• Green and Black chocolate selection and a M&S Sparkling caramels selection
• Lavazza Coffee along with a Coffee4Craig travel mug and Coffee4Craig travel bag
• Pink Gin Selection along with Belvoir Sparkling Elderflower water
• Pick and Mix sweet selection
• Scented candles
• Finally, a donation of Shower Whip from the Soap Shop in Rawtenstall, Bank Street (https://www.scentishshop.com/) check out their amazing range of vegan bath, body, shower and home products, handmade.
Enter here.
They also wrote a lovely this about us! Check it out below.
*BUZZ* ... The back door opens and we meet our first host. Fashioning an apron he was clearly interrupted from his kitchen duties, but takes the time to introduce himself (Stuart), and lets us into the building.
When you first step into The Meanwhile you are hit by a comforting smell of a home-cooked meal. It was 4 pm on a Friday, so the place was empty of any guests, they open from 6 pm to 8 pm weekdays, and till 7 pm weekends, 365 days a year.
There are many Homeless support charities in Manchester that offer food and support, but Coffee4Craig is one of the only ones that are open in the evenings, filling a big hole in a support network for so many rough sleepers, and they do so much more.
Despite us being 2 hours early to see any guests, the office was busy with volunteers, the back door was buzzing with the occasional delivery from regular donors and Stuart, the chef was baking in the kitchen. On Today’s menu was Beef Hotpot, Vegetarian Curry Pie and Crispy Chicken, with the very popular desert of Cake and Custard. We were told guests always have an option of 3 meals; having a choice of what to eat is one of the many things we all take for granted, an example of the many lengths Stuart and the team take to make the guests feel more human.
Elle comes down from the office to meet us, after introductions, we start our tour in the Kitchen. A dozen pies to one side and at least another 40 more meals yet to come. Impressive given the size of the kitchen, no more than your home domestic kitchen. Elle tells me her passion project at the minute is to upgrade this kitchen to include high spec restaurant-quality equipment, so they have the tools they need to run efficiently, with no limitation, to feed everyone. I was with my friend Chris, being a chef himself he was talking shop with Stuart whilst he cooked.
Unfortunately, their conversation went over my head as my kitchen skills ends at pealing a banana (it's all in the wrist).
We’re shown the dining area, which can seat 25 at a time, a tea station where the guests apparently go through more sugar than an army of diabetic Oompa Loompa’s, a bookshelf with puzzles magazines and board games. I was told over Christmas there were multiple games of chess happening at the same time, that evolved into an unofficial mini-tournament.
This may sound trivial, but I think about times when I’ve had to wait for a bus, only 10 minutes, in the cold and rain, turns me miserable until I can get home and dry. For these guests that is their life. Coffee4Craig offers a respite from that. Someplace they know they can go, everyday, for a hot meal, a warm place to sit down and interact with other human beings in a safe environment, even play games! It’s a comforting thought knowing they have this place.
A heartwarming place but with tragic foundations. We were given the story of the founder's late brother, Craig, who inspired the charity. I cannot give the story any justice by summarising it here in a blog post, but suffice to say it is a story shared by so many other guests. The Meanwhile is situated across from Strangeways Prison, and rightly so, as newly rehabilitated inmates are the most vulnerable demographic to addiction and substance abuse.
For that reason, they are targeted by drug pushers. I was then educated on the most frequent problem these guests face, cuckooing. “When criminals target the home of a vulnerable person, often so they can use the property for criminal purposes”. If a street homeless person is lucky enough to be eligible for social housing, they are then targeted by gangs and dealers, who will take their home, through force, intimidation or just manipulation, putting them back on the street. Scared of repercussions if they disagree, and now with nowhere to turn as the support system believes they are homed. There are safeguarding measures to avoid this, but unfortunately, it is still a common threat.
The tour continues upstairs, we see the pantry, filled with donations from individuals and unsold stock from shops and restaurants. Enough milk to drown a house, but we were told they will go through it all in a snap. They have showers and a whole heap of clothes donations, neatly organised and categorised. Though guests can take anything they need, it is all logged who has taken what, so they know which individuals need what items.
They even have a medic room, where guests can go and get checked out for any ailments or injuries they are suffering. We were told one of the most common issues is trench foot. In 2022 people are still suffering trench foot!
We ended the tour with what I thought was the best service they offer. Free haircuts. Unlimited, any day, any style, FOR FREE! We were told of one guest (a fellow sufferer of OCD like myself) who gets a haircut every week. I on the other hand only find the courage twice a year (not a fan of scissors near my ears). They have the full barbers set up, with an illuminated framed mirror and a proper barbers chair, but best of all, a qualified barber, Elle herself. I won’t tell Elle’s full story here but I will try to summarise it. Elle quit her corporate job in dramatic fashion, to learn to become a barber! But 1 week after graduating, the world decided to break and we were flung into our first lockdown; she decided to offer her skills to C4C. Almost 2 years later and now Executive Assistant she practically runs the show (if anything needs doing, Elle is your woman). Despite how clearly busy she and the entire team are though, she still offers these free cuts to all guests. Superhero.
Be sure to follow us on social media and join our mailing list to keep up to date with all things Coffee4Craig. All our links, as well as important links to our wish lists, fundraising and donation links, can be found on: linktr.ee/coffee4craig