What a year it has been, or hasn’t been, depending on your outlook. The Christmas Present Trust will still operate this year, but it will look somewhat different from previous events.
For those who are new to Hadleigh and the surrounding areas, or are new to our small organisation, the aim of The Christmas Present Trust is to provide a free meal to local residents who, for whatever reason, are unable to be with family or friends on Christmas Day, and we have put on successful events for the last five years.
This year, in order to maximise the number of people we can serve and to reduce any risk of uncertainty during the pandemic, Simon and I have taken the difficult decision to continue with the event but from a distance.
Having carefully considered all the possibilities, we feel that the safest way forward is to re-recruit our beautiful army of volunteers to deliver hot meals on Christmas Day to our lovely guests. We will still provide an element of Christmas cheer on the day, a doorstep carol or two, and, of course, a present for each guest, but this way we are keeping everybody safe.
We will also ensure that the meal arrives in a robust container that can be re-used and, while we recognise that this is not the same as a full celebratory meal and entertainment in The Ansell Centre, we look forward to next year when we hope that the horrors of 2020 will seem like a distant memory.
We will be contacting all those who may benefit by the end of October and welcome suggestions for any new guests. You can even nominate yourself! The only criteria we have is that, for whatever reason, you cannot be with family or friends on Christmas Day. You may be a small family with no relatives nearby; you may be in the forces and stationed away from home; you may live by yourself: whatever the reason we would like to help make your Christmas Day. This a completely free service, and we are truly grateful to the people of Hadleigh, businesses and local charitable organisations that make this happen, and, of course, to our wonderful volunteers for their continued support and enthusiasm. Please get in touch with us (details below) and please feel free to nominate yourself or someone else you may feel would benefit.
Of course, we need a small army of wiling volunteers to make it all happen. We welcome anybody who may be able to spare a couple of hours on Christmas Eve (10am-noon) to help with food preparation and gift wrapping, which will be Covid-safe, or on Christmas Day (noon-1.30pm) to ensure that all deliveries are made in a timely fashion. To all our guests, volunteers and anybody who has made any form of contribution in money, goods or services, we wish you all well.
Please contact Sarah or Simon Thompson:
01473 829246 (we have a Call Guardian phone but we will respond)
07778 860267 / christmas.present.trust@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/christmaspresenttrust