Age UK Lancashire has launched a festive campaign to not only provide some Christmas joy to local older people, some of whom live alone and have no friends or family, but also to raise vital funds for their Crisis Fund, which is used to support older people most in need with household items and urgent support.
The Gift of Kindness Appeal is part of The Big Give, which means that any donation received during the donation week is doubled.
Teri Stephenson, CEO at Age UK Lancashire, said: “We are really excited about this appeal and know if people get behind it we can make lots of older people smile this Christmas. Throughout the year we come across many older people that need serious help. Our Crisis Fund is for those who need it urgently to ensure they are safe. In the past two months alone we have supported; a client living in a cold house and was upset because their son, who had power of attorney, had turned their heating off. Another client’s house was in such a state of repair that there were rats inside. And only last week, we supported a client who had been scammed out of £20,000”.
These are just some of the cases Age UK Lancashire have had to handle and as the cost of living and energy crisis sets in, the charity will be called upon even more and need help now, more than ever.
As part of the Big Give Christmas Appeal, people are also encouraged to make up a gift box, which the charities frontline teams will be handing to those who need them most.
Teri Stephenson said: “Donating a gift box is a cheap and simple way of spreading some festive cheer and making an older person’s Christmas. Our website has a full list of suggested items, such as puzzle books, hats, thermal mugs and other useful items. We hope this could be an activity for individuals, community groups, schools and businesses to get involved in”.
There are drop off points located throughout Lancashire and full details on what your box could include are listed on the charity’s website: www.ageuklancs.org.uk. There is also a special printable gift tag you can download and attach to your box. All the boxes will be checked before being distributed.
To support the Crisis Fund, each drop off point will also have a QR code to scan to allow people to make a minimum donation of £5, which again will be doubled.
Teri Stephenson says: “The main aim of this appeal is to raise vital funds for our Crisis Fund, as there will be many older people in serious need of our help this winter. We hope by offering people the chance to give a gift box as well as donating will encourage more people to get involved. If people prefer just to donate online during the donation week, then that will also be wonderful and be of huge benefit to our appeal”.
Teri Stephenson added: “We know it’s a really tough time financially for most people currently so we are just asking people to give what they can. Having the donation doubled hopefully will encourage people to choose this appeal, knowing their donation goes further”.
The donations week starts on Tuesday 29th November and runs until Tuesday 6th December. During this week the online giving page will be open for donations and the drop off points for gift boxes will also be open. Full details on the campaign and how to get involved are at www.ageuklancs.org.uk or you can contact the team at Age UK Lancashire by emailing [email protected]
Join Age UK Lancashire’s appeal and give a Gift of Kindness this Christmas…
