Mustard Tree

Mustard Tree, a charity that helps to combat poverty and prevent homelessness across Greater Manchester received a donation of £22,770.

Thanks to our support, the charity has been able to relaunch ‘The Olive Branch’, a community café at Mustard Tree’s Ancoats hub.  The café provides a multi-functional use; it is an inclusive café offering low-cost prices for people to socialise within the community, which is especially important for those suffering from social exclusion as well as offering an additional training avenue for trainees enrolled on the Freedom Project. 

Chris Davies, Food Manager at Mustard Tree explains: “It’s all about social inclusion. The Olive Branch café serves two purposes: we have our service-users, in particular the pensioners across the road, who can come to the Mustard Tree to eat and socialise at a low-cost, and it gives our Freedom trainees the opportunity to volunteer in a customer service environment. The café has created another training stream for our freedom trainees – people who have been excluded from the job market for a long time as a result of various hardships.”

“Trainees have the opportunity to build their confidence, gain accredited qualifications, get experience in hospitality and have access to work placements with our corporate partners. We would like to say a massive thank you to the Morrisons Foundation for their generous donation, helping to make the Olive Branch a reality.”