THE NELSON TRUST WOMEN’S CENTRE in Cardiff have challenged themselves to three ultra fundraising challenges, raising money for weekly food provisions for the women they support in the city.
The Nelson Trust, established in Stroud back in 1985, have recently opened trauma-informed, women-only spaces across five Welsh cities over the past four years with their first Welsh women’s centre opening in Cardiff in 2022.
The Nelson Trust Women’s Centres provide support to women facing some of life’s most difficult challenges, including homelessness, domestic abuse, involvement with the criminal justice system, poverty and addiction.
Additionally, the centres provide safety, connection and advocacy for women needing specialist help, with frontline keyworkers addressing their needs and overcoming adversity.
Part of the support The Nelson Trust Women’s Centres provide are weekly lunch and breakfast clubs, food parcels and wellbeing events for their clients. On average, they welcome up to 20 women weekly needing support with food. For some women, it’s the only meal they will eat that day.
Meeting the demand for hearty meals and food parcels can cost the centre anywhere from £50 to £60 a week, more over the festive period, that’s £2,600 to £3,120 a year!
With their target of £1,000, the team at the centre are set to take on their first challenge in August of covering 69.8 miles on an exercise bike in just three days.
They’ll be covering the distance between The Nelson Trust Cardiff Women’s Centre and The Nelson Trust’s first residential treatment centre, Nelson House in Stroud.
Before ending with a mysterious third and final challenge in October, the team are switching their trainers for hiking boots and waterproofs for their second challenge in September, the scenic Four Waterfalls Walk in the Brecon Beacons.
But this isn’t the team’s first time taking on a fundraising challenge. In September last year, they climbed a wet and windy Pen y Fan raising money for some special wellbeing events for clients to enjoy over the festive period. In total, the team raised £740 because of generous donations from supporters online.
The Cardiff Women’s Centre Manager, Roxanne Kirsch shared this moving message about the success of their fundraising challenge last year and the importance of giving: “After the success of our Pen Y Fan challenge last year, and the amazing opportunities the women were given due to the money raised, we have decided to take on a trio of challenges to raise funds for cooking clubs, lunch and breakfast clubs and events at the Cardiff Women’s Centre.
“We are so grateful for the support we received and continue to receive. We were completely blown away by the generous donations last year.”
Not only do these clubs ensure no woman goes hungry, but they also offer the chance of connection: “Watching the women come together for meals, cooking together and enjoying events really does make a huge difference. Being able to provide food when a woman is in need is so important – but we can only continue to do that with the
support of others.
“The clubs and events allow women to build connections, learn new skills and feel part of something, where many women often say they feel alone.”
One client followed Roxanne’s message with: “What the team does for us is so inspiring – they go above and beyond. Last year was brilliant and I had such a good day out at Christmas time because of the money the public gave. We are so grateful. Can you believe the team climbed a mountain – for us!”
They’ll be embarking on their long exercise bike journey on Tuesday, August 4.
You can donate and wish the team luck on their JustGiving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/the-nelson-trust-cardiff-womens-centre-1?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL
To find out more about The Nelson Trust, please visit: www.nelsontrust.com
