We hope you are all keeping well and warm this December. We know it can be an especially tough month for some of us so we hope that you are taking care and reaching out for support when you need it.
We’ve had so many wonderful conversations with so many of you – at the hall packing parcels, over the phone, at the door and we are so glad and proud to be part of this wonderful community.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out for support if you need it. You are not alone.
Festive activities
We are well and truly in the festive season here at OMA and we’re having such a jolly time! Thank you SO much to everyone who has donated so far! We have received lots of wonderful goodies that we will pack in hampers. However with more and more people coming forward for support every day we still require donations. Showing solidarity is about so much more than meeting basic needs. It’s about the spreading of collective joy, showing kindness and caring for one another. Beyond being well-fed and warm, we all deserve to feel seen and supported.
If you’d like to support our Christmas efforts, there are a number of ways you can do so
- Donate gifts, goodies and Christmas cheer! We are seeking the following items
- Christmas Chocolates / Luxury Food Items
- Socks / Scarves / Hats
- Board Games
- Colouring Books / Pencils / Markers
- Children’s Toys (0-5)
- Children’s Toys (5-12)
- Toiletries (Gender neutral if possible)
We are open 10 – 6 every day at the Richard Benson Hall 276 Cowley Road
- Donate Funds open collective platform https://tinyurl.com/vjnaptpt or our bank account! If you’d like our details please email coordinators@oxfordmutualaid.org
- Volunteer! We’re always looking for more volunteers, especially around our busiest period. To sign up, please do so here: www.oxfordmutualaid.org/volunteer. We have plenty of roles available: from packing and / or delivering food parcels and Christmas hampers, to making calls to our contacts to doing graphics and social media and lots lots more – There is a place for everyone at OMA
- Organise a Christmas Collection at your school, college, street, church or workplace. Lots of you have already set these up – thank you SO much! They are wonderful! and we are so grateful! There is still time to organise something! If you’re interested, please e-mail coordinators@oxfordmutualaid.org and we can provide you will any items you might need
- Donate Items on the OMA Reverse Advent Calendar. Thanks to our brilliant volunteer Lucy you created our very own reverse advent calendar of things we regularly need. For every day in December we’re asking you to consider donating this highly desired item!
SHORTAGES THIS WEEK: FRUIT AND VEG, TINNED SOUP, TINNED TOMATOES
Fresh fruit and veg needed
One of our main suppliers were not able to help us out last week, which means we are very short on fresh fruit and veg.
Without more supplies some parcels will not have any and we may need to turn people away.
If you have any capacity to donate, please bring or send donations of fruit and veg to 276 Cowley Road, OX4 1UR ❤️
Everything is welcome no matter how small, and all helps to ensure our parcels are nutritionally balanced and healthy!
Brand the bus – vote for OMA
OMA is in with the chance of winning a prize worth £50,000 in advertising! You can read more about our entry (Number 73!) here: https://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/view-gallery
Not only would this be a brilliant opportunity to raise awareness of the work we do to generate more support / donations but also to also to let more people know that support is available and that OMA is there to help if they are struggling
Please consider voting for us
East Oxford Farmers’ Market
Thank you so much to the wonderful East Oxford Farmers Market who hosted us this Saturday! It was great seeing so many of you there and talking to you at our stall
Big shout out to the wonderful Fran and Sophie who were there flying the flag for OMA.
New Donation Station: Co-op, Littlemore Road
Thank you very much to the Co-op Littlemore Road store who have agreed to be a donation point for OMA. You can buy items in store to donate to OMA!
Choose OMA to be your local cause
Are you a Co-op Member? If so, there are additional ways you can support OMA via the Local Community Fund.
When you buy selected Co-op products and services, 2p for every £1 spent goes into your membership account. The same amount also goes towards like-minded organisations and local causes.
You can select a local cause you would like to support – OMA is one of the nominated causes this year.
Here is our profile: https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/71665
And you can choose to nominate us here: https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes
CHANGES TO SERVICE: TUESDAY & SATURDAY
We currently are not open for emergency parcels for two days a week, namely Wednesday and Saturday.
From next week this will be changing to Tuesday and Saturday.
This will mean that if requesting after 4pm on Monday this may not be responded to until Wednesday morning.
We will be open on Wednesdays from 10am – 4pm for any emergency support requests.
Feedback
This week delivered over 84 Emergency Food Parcels to nearly 300 people as well as regular food parcels to nearly 1000 people via our weekly food parcels and kitchen collective meals
Here is some feedback we received this week.
Hi I received a food parcel today and from the bottom of my heart I really cannot thank you enough for what you guys do, when I opened my door my heart felt so full and the relief that filled my body was overwhelming. I really appreciate absolutely everything I was given.
All of you in your team have given me so much during this stressful time. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it