Violet’s gift started as a small act of kindness as it “felt right.” Five Christmases later the charitable project has grown due to the increasing support needed for people in care with no loved ones.  

According to Age UK (2018), 1.4m older people in the UK currently feel lonely, and this is expected to rise to 2m in the next decade. Loneliness isn’t just a sad state, it is extremely detrimental to a person’s health and is as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Older people living in care homes are twice as likely to feel lonely compared to those living in the community (Victor, 2012), and those without loved ones are also significantly more likely to feel lonely (Age UK, 2018).  Unlike people in the community, those in care are unable to integrate with society and seek help themselves. Residents are unable to leave the care home without assistance and although Nurses try their best they are spread too thinly. Huffington Post reported that 60% of people in care homes receive no visitors at all. Using 2011 census data, that equates to around 174,000 people in English and Welsh care homes in need of company.

Christmas can be a particularly difficult time for those in care with no loved ones as they watch others receive gifts and visitors. We try our best to make Christmas special for residents, providing a gift and some company during the festive season. Something as simple as a chocolate bar, new socks or bar of soap is hugely appreciated by the residents who are unable to buy these little luxuries for themselves.

Many people we’ve supported have lost partners and children and never thought they would be alone just like many of us. Sadly, it is often the last Christmas for some of the people we support, but we hope to have made it a little less lonely.