Tag Archive for: Pay it forwards

thumbnail saying we are looking for volunteers

Could Your Company Spend a Day at MAIN?

/in , , , , /by

Could Your Company Spend a Day at MAIN?

🌱 Calling all parents, carers, friends and supporters of MAIN… we have a little favour to ask!

What if your workplace gave you a volunteering day… and you brought your whole team to MAIN? 💙

We’re putting a challenge out there to all our wonderful MAIN families, friends and supporters.

If you work for a company that offers volunteering days, community days or team volunteering, why not ask your boss or HR team:

“Could we spend a day volunteering at MAIN?”

You never know… they might just say yes!

So, what would we actually do?

Well, that’s the fun part.

You don’t need to be a gardener, painter, DIY expert or professional organiser. You just need to turn up with enthusiasm, sensible shoes and a willingness to get stuck in! 😂

There are always jobs at MAIN that need a few extra pairs of hands.

🌱 Fancy getting your hands dirty?
Come and help us in our allotment or community garden. There are plants to plant, things to tidy and plenty of opportunities to discover whether you actually have green fingers!

🎨 More of a creative type?
We always have painting, decorating and creative jobs that could use some extra help.

🧹 Love a good sort-out?
You could help us clean, organise, declutter and generally make things look fabulous.

📦 Got a talent for finding treasure?
We have donations, fundraising bits and tombola prizes that need sorting and organising. You might even discover something you didn’t know existed!

🔨 A bit handy?
There are always those little jobs that we never quite get around to. A team of willing volunteers can make a huge difference.

🌿 Outdoor person?
Help us get our outdoor spaces looking their best and ready for everyone who uses them.

🎉 Love events?
You could help us prepare for fundraising events, set things up, decorate, organise and generally help make the magic happen.

💙 Or just come and see where you’re needed most.

Sometimes the most valuable thing you can give a small charity isn’t money.

It’s time.

One day. A whole team. A BIG difference.

For a small charity like MAIN, having a team of people come in for a day can make an enormous difference.

Jobs that might take us weeks to get through can suddenly be done in a day.

A tired garden can be transformed.

A room can get a fresh coat of paint.

A mountain of donations can become beautifully organised.

And, perhaps most importantly, we get to meet some lovely new people who become part of the MAIN family for the day. 💙

And let’s be honest… we’ll probably put you to work! 😂

But we promise there’ll be plenty of laughs along the way.

Could you be our next MAIN volunteer team?

So, if you’re reading this and thinking:

“I reckon my workplace would do this…”

Don’t keep it to yourself!

👉 Send this blog to your boss.
👉 Pop it into your work WhatsApp group.
👉 Tag your HR team.
👉 Mention it at your next team meeting.

And ask them:

“Could we volunteer a day at MAIN this year?”

We’d absolutely LOVE to hear from you.

Whether you’re a team of 3, 10, 20 or more, we’d love to talk to you about how you could spend a day helping MAIN.

You bring the people. We’ll find the jobs! 😄

📩 Interested in bringing your team to MAIN?
Email us at info@iammain.org.uk

💙 Together, we’re raising smiles.

HUGE Thank You to COSTAIN and Their Amazing Volunteers!

/in /by

A HUGE Thank You to COSTAIN and Their Amazing Volunteers! 💚

We would like to say a very big and heartfelt thank you to COSTAIN, and especially to Sandra and her wonderful team of volunteers, for giving up their time and working incredibly hard to transform and clear our internal garden area at MAIN.

What started as an overgrown and unused space is now well on its way to becoming something really special. 🌿✨

The team has worked tirelessly to clear and prepare the area, with the hope that we can have the area resin and ready for our teenagers and young adults to enjoy.

Our vision is to create a tranquil, welcoming and safe outdoor space where our young people can relax, take some time out, enjoy the fresh air and simply feel comfortable being themselves. 💚

We also hope to be able to dress and decorate the area throughout the year, Christmas 🎄, Easter 🐣, Halloween 🎃 and everything in between, making it a space that changes with the seasons and gives our young people something to look forward to.

But there is another reason this support means so much to us.

Sandra has recently signed up to become a Trustee of MAIN, and we genuinely couldn’t be more prouder or more grateful to have her on board. Her commitment to our young people, her willingness to get stuck in and the support she has already brought to MAIN is absolutely fantastic.

To Sandra, COSTAIN and every single volunteer who picked up a tool, cleared an area, moved materials or simply gave their time, THANK YOU! ❤️

Your kindness, hard work and generosity are helping us turn a neglected space into somewhere our young people can relax, feel safe, make memories and call their own.

We can’t wait to see the finished space!

From all of us at MAIN, thank you for believing in what we do and for helping us make a real difference. 💚

🌿 Together, we’re creating spaces where young people can feel safe, valued and at home.

A BIG Thank You for Helping Our Community Garden Grow!

/in /by

🌱💚 A BIG Thank You for Helping Our Community Garden Grow! 🌻🥕🍅

We would like to say a HUGE thank you to one of our wonderful mums, Lynn, and to Morrisons, where Lynn works, for their incredibly kind donation of seeds for our allotment and community garden! 🌱💚

We were absolutely delighted to receive lots and lots of seeds, including:

🥕 Carrots
🧅 Onions
🥬 Lettuce
🍅 Tomatoes
🫘 Beans
🌱 Peas
…and so much more! 🌻🌿

Our community garden is a really special place at MAIN. It gives everyone the opportunity to get outside, get their hands dirty, learn about growing food, watch things develop and, of course, enjoy the excitement of seeing those first little shoots appear! 🌱👩‍🌾👨‍🌾

There is something so rewarding about planting a tiny seed and watching it grow into something we can eventually enjoy together. 💚

We are so thankful to Lynn and Morrisons for thinking of us and helping our garden grow. Your generosity will make a real difference and bring lots of smiles over the coming months. 🌈🌱

And while we’re saying thank you, we also want to give a massive THANK YOU to everyone who supports MAIN, day in and day out. Whether you donate, volunteer, fundraise, provide resources, share our work or simply cheer us on,  we appreciate every single bit of support. 💚

Together, we’re not just growing vegetables… we’re growing opportunities, confidence, friendships and our community. 🌱💚🌈

Thank you for helping MAIN grow! 🌻🥕🍅

World Smile Day – be KIND

/in /by

😊 World Smile Day at MAIN

Friday 2 October 2026

This World Smile Day, we’re bringing a little extra kindness, fun and positivity to MAIN! 💛

The message behind World Smile Day is simple:

“Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile.”

Created by Harvey Ball, the artist behind the original yellow smiley face, World Smile Day is all about bringing the focus back to goodwill, kindness and making a positive difference.

And that’s something we can all get behind at MAIN! 😁

🌟 The MAIN Smile Challenge

We’re challenging our staff and young people to spread as many smiles as possible!

Try one — or all — of these:

💛 Make Someone Smile – Give someone a compliment, help them out or do something thoughtful.

🎨 Design a Smiley – Create your own unique MAIN smiley and add it to our Smile Gallery.

😊 Smile Wall – Complete the sentence:
“Something that makes me smile is…”

🕵️ Secret Kindness Mission – Do something kind for someone without telling them it was you!

📸 Capture the Moment – With the right consent, share a photo or story of something that made you smile.

🎤 Ask Someone:
“What makes you smile?”
“What are you grateful for?”
“Who deserves a thank you?”

💬 And remember…

You don’t have to smile to take part!

Kindness can look different for everyone. It could be listening, creating, helping, playing, spending time together or simply doing something that makes you feel good.

💛 Our challenge:

Can the MAIN community create 100 smiles in one day?

Let’s spread a little kindness, celebrate each other and show the world how MAIN raises smiles!

#MAINSmileDay #TogetherRaisingSmiles #WorldSmileDay

Blessed and Thankful to KSB Greenhouse UK

/in /by

🌱 A Huge Thank You to KSB Greenhouse UK for Their Incredible Support

We are absolutely delighted to share our sincere thanks to KSB Greenhouse UK for their kindness, generosity, and support towards MAIN.

Thanks to their incredible help, we now have a newly installed 3m x 4m Signa Lux polytunnel, which would normally cost upwards of £1,500 installed. Through their generosity, we have been able to access this at less than half the usual cost, and we are truly grateful for this outstanding support.

A heartfelt thank you also goes to the amazing installation team, who did a fantastic job. The polytunnel is secure, high-quality, and already looking like it will make a real and lasting difference to our charity. Your professionalism and care throughout the installation process have been greatly appreciated.

This new space opens up so many exciting opportunities for us at MAIN. We are now able to take another step forward in our vision of “soil to plate” learning, where our young people, aged 5 years and upwards, can actively engage with growing, harvesting, and cooking their own produce.

From tomatoes and herbs to runner beans climbing our wigwam supports, this hands-on approach will encourage learning in unique and meaningful ways. It will help the people we support to build confidence, develop life skills, and connect with nature in a therapeutic and inclusive environment.

At MAIN, we proudly support autistic and neurodiverse individuals, as well as people living with mental health challenges, disabilities, and complex needs. Opportunities like this help us to continue creating accessible, engaging experiences that make a real difference in people’s lives.

We would also like to extend a special thank you to Emma and Gary, whose encouragement and connection helped make this possible. Your kindness and community spirit are deeply appreciated, great friends doing great things locally.

From all of us at MAIN, thank you to everyone involved for helping us grow, both literally and figuratively. 💚

Exciting Updates at MAIN

/in /by

Exciting Updates at MAIN

There’s lots happening at MAIN as we continue to develop and improve our space for the autistic, neurodivergent and learning disabled community.

We are excited to share that our sunken trampoline has been delivered and will be installed on 22nd April, creating a safe and sensory-friendly space for movement, regulation, and fun.

Alongside this, our boiler replacements are underway, helping us improve comfort, reliability, and energy efficiency across the building.

Our community garden and allotment area is also taking shape, becoming a calm and welcoming outdoor space where people can connect with nature, learn new skills, and take part in meaningful activities.

We are incredibly proud of the progress being made and grateful for all the support we continue to receive. Every improvement helps us create a more inclusive, accessible, and engaging environment for everyone at MAIN.

#togetherraisingsmiles

 

 

Resilience Fund at its BEST

/in /by

This month marks an exciting and meaningful milestone for MAIN as we take a significant step forward in improving our facilities and reducing our environmental impact. We are proud to share that new solar panels and energy-efficient boilers are currently being installed across our site, an investment that will benefit both our community and the planet for years to come.

This progress has been made possible through the Resilience Fund, and we are incredibly grateful for the generous support we have received. A very big thank you goes to SIB and Groundworks for believing in our vision and helping make these vital upgrades a reality.

Through this funding, MAIN has been fortunate to secure 40% of the total project costs as a grant, along with access to a 10-year repayment plan at a fixed interest rate of 8.5%. This opportunity allows us to move forward sustainably without compromising the quality of support we provide to the individuals and families who rely on our services.

For those who may not know us, MAIN supports children and young people from the age of 5 through to adulthood who are autistic, neurodiverse, have learning disabilities, and/or complex needs. Every improvement we make to our facilities directly enhances the environment we offer—creating safer, more comfortable, and more inclusive spaces where individuals can thrive.

By investing in renewable energy and more efficient systems, we are not only reducing our carbon footprint but also ensuring that more of our resources can be directed toward what truly matters: supporting our community.

We are incredibly proud of this step forward and deeply thankful to everyone who has made it possible. To learn more about our work and the impact we strive to make every day, please visit www.iammain.org.uk.

Together, we are building a brighter, more sustainable future.

#togetherraisingsmiles

 

Teesside Family Foundation Short List – Please Vote for MAIN

/in /by
Help Us Bring £25,000 to MAIN – Your Vote Can Change Lives

We’re incredibly proud to share that MAIN has been shortlisted for the £25,000 “Together for Teesside” giveaway, run by the Teesside Family Foundation 💙

This amazing initiative supports local charities making a real difference across Teesside, and now, thanks to you, we’re in with a chance of securing vital funding.

But we need your help.

💙 Why This Matters

At MAIN, we support neurodiverse children, young people, and their families across Teesside. Every day, we see the difference the right environment and support can make.

Right now, we’re working to create more safe spaces in our purpose built building alongside developing our Alternate Education offer, as we know first hand how difficult some of our children find a school environment whether that is a SEND provision or mainstream.

🏆 About the £25,000 Giveaway

The “Together for Teesside” campaign is all about celebrating and supporting local causes. After public nominations, shortlisted organisations (like us!) rely on community votes to move forward.

The top charities will go on to a live final, and every finalist receives a share of the £25,000 fund.

So every single vote really does count.

🙌 How You Can Help

It’s simple—and it takes less than a minute:

👉 Vote for MAIN
(9) Facebook

(If the link doesn’t open directly, head to our social pages where you’ll find the voting link pinned!)

💬 Every Vote = Real Impact

By voting for MAIN, you’re helping us:

  • Create safe spaces for vulnerable children
  • Support families across Teesside
  • Continue delivering vital services to those who need them most

This is more than just a competition—it’s an opportunity to bring meaningful change to our community.

💙 Let’s Do This Together

If you’ve ever supported MAIN, worked with us, or believe in what we do, please take a moment to vote—and share this with your friends, family, and colleagues.

Together, we can make this happen.

#TogetherForTeesside #VoteMAIN #CommunitySupport #MakingADifference

ATF Supplies Logo

A Heartfelt Thank You to ATF Supplies

/in /by
A Heartfelt Thank You to ATF Supplies

At MAIN, we are privileged to work with incredible partners who go above and beyond to support our community. Over the past year, ATF Supplies, John, Marc, Emily, and the entire team, have shown exceptional care, compassion, and generosity, and we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt thanks.

From the very beginning, ATF Supplies demonstrated a clear understanding of the needs of our autistic, neurodiverse, and learning disability community. Their practical support has been invaluable. They supplied the ironmongery free of charge, assisted with our fob entry system, and even allowed flexibility in repayment. This generosity eased financial pressures at a critical time and ensured that our services continued uninterrupted.

Beyond the practical support, it has been their kindness, care, and ongoing willingness to help that has touched us all. The commitment of John, Marc, Emily, and the team made this project possible, and their contribution has had a lasting, meaningful impact on the people we support.

Thanks to ATF Supplies, we are one step closer to our vision of greater independence and opportunity for all. We are proud to have worked alongside them and deeply grateful for everything they have done for MAIN and our community.

From Heather, our trustees, staff, and the people we support—thank you. Your generosity and commitment mean the world to us.

JPS Logo

When Amazing People Make a Lasting Difference

/in /by

A Heartfelt Thank You to James Paul Services Ltd

At MAIN, we believe that meaningful partnerships are at the heart of everything we do. Over the past year, we have had the privilege of working alongside James Paul Services Ltd (JPS Ltd), and we would like to take a moment to recognise and celebrate the incredible support they have provided.

From the very beginning, Gary, Kev, and the entire JPS team approached the development of our Pathways to Independence project with professionalism, care, and a genuine understanding of the needs of the autistic, neurodiverse, and learning disability community we serve. Their commitment to getting it right was evident at every stage.

The quality of their workmanship has been exceptional. Together, we have created a space that is not only practical and functional, but also welcoming, safe, and truly fit for purpose, an environment that will make a lasting difference to the people we support.

What has made this partnership even more remarkable is the compassion and flexibility shown by JPS Ltd. By allowing us to spread the cost of the project over the course of a year, they significantly eased financial pressures on our charity. This generosity meant we could continue delivering vital services without disruption while bringing this important vision to life.

It is no exaggeration to say that this project would not have been possible without the dedication, kindness, and unwavering support of Gary, Kev, and the entire JPS team. Their contribution has already had a profound and lasting impact, helping us move closer to our vision of greater independence and opportunity for all.

We are incredibly proud to have worked in partnership with JPS Ltd and are deeply grateful for everything they have done for MAIN and our community.

From Heather, our trustees, staff, and the people we support—thank you. Your kindness and commitment mean more than words can fully express.

#Togetherraisingsmiles