Meet this year's charities

Twenty years ago a load of us ran round Hockley asking venues to throw a party for a good cause. They said yes, and they've kept saying yes. Since 2006 the Hustle has raised £250,000 for charities in Nottingham, a few quid at a time: every wristband, and every bit extra people chuck in on top.

Every wristband is a donation. This year the money goes to six local charities, chosen by the team. One feeds and shelters people with nowhere to go. One gives young carers a break. One gets dads talking. They all do the hard graft in Notts on the 364 days the Hustle isn't on, so here's a proper look at who they are and what they do.

On Goose Gate since 1976, right in the middle of Hockley. If you're sleeping rough in Nottingham, or about to be, this is where you can get a hot breakfast, a shower, clean clothes and someone to talk to, all free. Their night shelter has opened every winter since 2006, and this year it's running all year round for the first time.

Then there's the longer work that helps people move on: wellbeing support, help keeping a tenancy, a team working with minority ethnic communities, an allotment, singing, drama and crafts, and a charity shop where people get work experience. They get no statutory funding for their core services. It runs on donations.

“I wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t found them.” Linda, who uses Emmanuel House

Emmanuel House is a Hustle venue this year too, with its own lineup, and our Bunch of Kunst screening at Broadway on Tuesday 20 October is an extra fundraiser for them.

Find out more about Emmanuel House

IMPACD C.I.C was founded by Amanda Hose-Hawley and is based at the Greenway Centre in Sneinton. They use dance, movement and music to make room for people who don't always get a look in: disabled and neurodivergent people, people with complex needs, older people, carers, and the LGBTQ+ community. Joyful dance, salsa, a drumming circle, yoga, sound baths, mosaic and photography, with sessions out in Keyworth, Bingham and West Bridgford too.

It sounds simple, and that's the point. A regular session is a reason to leave the house, and a room full of people to see when you get there. The money raised at the Hustle goes towards engaging isolated and lonely adults living with long-term conditions in accessible, inclusive dance and social sessions, for better wellbeing.

Find out more about IMPACD C.I.C

Al-Hurraya is Arabic for freedom: freedom from harm, from addiction, from isolation. Asad Fazil MBE set the charity up in 2014 after seeing how many Black, Asian and minority ethnic people were falling through the gaps in treatment. It's peer-led, so a lot of the people doing the supporting have been where you are.

They run counselling (in schools too), addiction and gambling support, an Islamic 12-step programme, domestic abuse and sexual violence support, mentoring for young people, family support and sport.

“It’s having a real, deep cultural awareness. Every community will have different issues, it’s about recognising that.” Asad Fazil MBE, to LeftLion

Find out more about Al-Hurraya

When your child is in intensive care for weeks, everything else keeps going: the parking, the food, the time off work, the other kids at home. The Harley Jae Trust looks after Notts families with a seriously ill child, mostly on the children's critical care unit at Queen's Medical Centre.

They give a comfort grant to families who've been on the unit for six weeks or more, a wish when they finally go home, and grants for specialist kit that health or social care won't fund. It's small, local and very direct: the money goes to a family, not a system.

Find out more about the Harley Jae Trust

Some kids go home from school to a second job: getting a parent up, sorting a younger brother's tea, keeping an eye on a grandparent. Young Carers Notts is a free, confidential service for carers aged 5 to 17 across the city and the county, run by the charity TuVida.

They give young carers a break, a group of mates who get it without having to explain, and practical help: carers assessments, a young carer ID card, travel cards, days out, and support when they turn 18.

Find out more about Young Carers Notts

Mutsa Makaka set up Shifting Your Mindset to back the people who tend to get missed: men and dads dealing with homelessness, poverty, trauma and isolation, and their kids. There's a men's shelter, dads' groups in Sneinton, Radford and Hyson Green, Men's Talk, a Young Fathers Programme, food parcels and summer stuff for the kids. Their dads turned an old dumping yard into a wellbeing garden.

“Moving together as a group and filtering down the knowledge makes us feel as though we are part of a legacy.” A dad from their weekly sessions

Find out more about Shifting Your Mindset

Your wristband is already a donation. If you can spare a bit more, it goes to the same six charities, and it all stays in Notts.

Sunday 25 October. See you there.

With love, Team Hustle