Hampers Zooming Their Way To Chiswick Age Concern Members
With Christmas lunch cancelled they are still getting festive treats
Chiswick Age Concern member Ruby Harvey with her festive treats
All 140 members of the Chiswick Age Concern group are to receive a festive treat.
Normally they would be attending the group’s popular Christmas lunch which helps tackle loneliness among the elderly at this time of year. The pandemic has meant that such gatherings are not possible at the moment.
Jess Spiring, a volunteer at Age Concern Chiswick reached out to Ocado Zoom, which has a distribution centre on Bollo Lane, to see if they could bring some Christmas joy to the group’s members. George Dean, Head of Zoom was delighted to be able to help and offered to send a bag packed with Christmas favourites to the social clubs 140 members whose ages range up 101.
Charity chair, David Lovegrove said, "Our members have been especially hit by the loneliness of lockdown and are likely to have a very challenging Christmas this year. We usually host many of them for a Christmas lunch at our Friendship Club, so it’s great they will be spoiled with a bag full of Christmas treats from Ocado Zoom instead."
George Dean said, “During these changing times, we still want Christmas to be an occasion that feels special for these wonderful Age Concern members. We’re thrilled to be able to step into Santa’s shoes and gift them a range of traditional favourite foods including M&S all butter mince pies, Fox's Fabulously Biscuit Selection and a Christmas pudding. We’re proud to be involved with our local community and welcome the opportunity to support them at this special time of year.”
Age Concern Chiswick closed its premises on Oxford Road North in March and had been slowly reopening as the shielding guidelines for older people were relaxed.
“Our main aim is to offer friendship and community to older people who can so easily feel vulnerable, lonely and isolated”, said David. “So it was particularly distressing for members when we had to close for a second time in November. But we are doing everything we can to keep members’ spirits up – we have launched a successful monthly newsletter full of advice, news and updates and our team of incredible volunteers make regular calls to each member to offer friendship and practical help when needed. We rely on the generosity of local firms to help us fund our activities, and we are delighted that Ocado Zoom’s donation will bring a big smile to our members’ faces.”
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November 29, 2020
