Christmas cheer, festive frocks, and delicious delights for everyone, socially distanced of course!
ACCORDING to AGE UK more than 850,000 older people could have spent Christmas alone in 2020.
Despite being unable to prevent their participants being alone this Christmas, The Community Team at Magna Vitae Trust for Leisure and Culture, swapped Christmas parties, buffets and winter games with personalised gifts, festive food filled hampers and Christmas Carols.
Over 70 food hampers, each filled with delicious treats, were made by the local and independent business Pocklingtons Bakery in Withern. All were hand delivered to participants doorsteps, along with a personal gift, by the Community Team.
Tracey Wilkinson, Lifestyles Partnerships Lead, explained “The team have made almost 3000 wellbeing calls to participants during the Coronavirus pandemic, and despite this being a great lifeline for individuals, they are missing the face-to-face sessions. We knew this Christmas was going to be so different for many people, especially the older generation, so it was more important than ever for us to do our bit to make Christmas a little brighter.”
A family member of a participant contacted the team to say to thank you for her father’s calendar and personalised with photographs of him enjoying activities with Magna Vitae Community sessions (pre COVID). “I wanted to thank you for the lovely calendar for my father… It was such a sweet and sentimental gift (that reminds him) of his happy place. You are really amazing!”
Another participant said “We are totally blown away by these thoughtful, amazing gifts. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The calendars made us both shed a tear with all those lovely memories. We are looking forward to making some more lovely memories with you all soon.”
For more information on how to get support from Magna Vitae Community Team please contact Tracey Wilkinson by email tracey.wilkinson@mvtlc.org or call 01507 681816.
