Contacting care homes

When contacting care homes it’s best to do this via email if possible. The care home’s email response provides evidence of your agreement with them. However, don’t be disheartened if you don’t get a reply. I’ve now contacted 8 care homes via email this year, and only one has responded.

Today I phoned the remaining care homes (which is the quickest and easiest way to get in touch). I asked to speak to the activities coordinator/centre manager as typically they’ll be the only people who can make decisions such as accepting your offer of help. To speak to these colleagues you’ll normally need to call between 10-4 mon-Friday.

I’ve never had a care home turn down help, they have always been really grateful for any donations. The closest i’ve come to a carehome not accepting the donation is this year where a care home was really appreciative of the donation offer but shared all their residents have friends and family.
Good luck with contacting the care homes! Remember the key things to discuss are:

how many residents they currently have with no friends and family

Any special requirements (such as residents with diabetes)

when you would be able to drop presents off (you can agree this nearer the time if necessary.

I’ve prepared a template below as an example. Feel feee to email me at violetsgift@hotmail.com or leave a comment if you have any questions.

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Hello

I live locally in [insert town/road here] and would love to donate Christmas presents for those in care with no friends or family. I’m not part of a charity but am just someone that lives nearby and appreciates that Christmas can be an incredibly lonely time for those without loved ones.

I wanted to check whether this is something you’re interested in, and if so please could you share the current number of residents with no friends and family and any special requirements for them (e.g number of people with diabetes, any specific gifts that would be good).

If you’d like to talk in person please let me know and I’ll be happy to pop in.

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

[name here]

[contact number here]