More than 2,000 people living in Curo’s sheltered housing have received a festive wellbeing food and activity gift delivery, along with a Christmas card designed by 14-year-old Gina Paradise.
The gift packs, made with stringent COVID-safety measures, were hand-delivered by staff from teams across the Curo housing association.
Curo Livewell Officer Michelle Nash, who helped to organise the deliveries, said: “In normal times we would have held several Christmas parties and dinners across the area but were unable to hold any festive gatherings this year.
“We decided instead to spread some Christmas cheer a little differently and, with the help of some of our amazing Curo colleagues, we managed to deliver Christmas goodies to well over 2,000 customers in just four days.”
Residents received a Christmas card, a food box of treats including scones and jam, mince pies, an orange, coffee or hot chocolate with marshmallows, sweets, plus a wordsearch and a writing gift set.
With the writing sets, recipients were invited to write about a memory from their past or from this extraordinary lockdown year.
The winning entries will receive a prize, and Curo hopes to publish a collection of the short stories in the new year for residents to share with each other.
Michelle added: “We’ve had heart-warming feedback from so many of our customers, with one resident telling us that the gesture made her feel that she was not forgotten, and another describing the team as angels.”
Throughout lockdown Curo, along with partners St John’s Foundation Trust, have put on COVID-safe events held outside or online to help bring people together and help them feel less lonely.
These have included a series of doorstep concerts, VE Day celebrations and commemorations for Remembrance Day.