Next to feature in our ‘In Good Spirits’ feature is Jack Barton who works with one of our key charity partners, The Mustard Tree. We caught a moment with Jack to find out a little bit more about his role, the incredible work TMT is doing, and how he keeps in Good Spirits.
This is In Good Spirits with Jack Barton.
To kick things off tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do personally?
I'm the Communications Manager who oversees fundraising at The Mustard Tree, as well as all our ongoing comms - both online and offline.
For those who aren’t familiar with The Mustard Tree, give us a quick overview of the work you do?
We're a homelessness charity who operate three hubs across Manchester and Salford - our mission is to combat poverty and prevent homelessness through providing access to low-cost food and furniture, as well as providing training and employment opportunities through our core offer - the Freedom Project.
The work you do is incredible and we’re hugely proud to be able to support that work. How would you, in just three words, sum up The Mustard Tree?
Kind
Dignified
Inspiring
The past 20 months or so have been an especially difficult period for everyone but what impact has that had specifically on TMT? And what is different now versus before the pandemic?
We never closed during the pandemic and found ourselves to be one of the only services who continued to maintain an open-door policy during lockdown - this was so our clients could still continue to access our Food Clubs when supermarket shortages were taking effect.
It's been a very tough period as we've been in crisis mode throughout the pandemic. However, we're fully reopen again with the focus to get our trainees back into employment - whilst improving the economic wellbeing of our clients.
Now, away from your incredible work at TMT, how do you keep yourself in good spirits?
We celebrate every success we have - this is crucial for keeping the team and ourselves motivated. We share great feedback and acknowledge these wins - big or small.
And finally, which Manchester venue should people visit before the end of the year?
Feel Good Club - they do great work and have also supported us recently!
Excellent choice, and you can drink the good stuff there too!
