Solicitors plan tea for elderly to help beat loneliness at Christmas
A SOUTHPORT solicitors firm is organising an afternoon tea to provide lonely people with some festive cheer.
On Wednesday, December 12, Hodge Halsall will be hosting the event at the Box Tree Kitchen, which will raise funds for Queenscourt Hospice, as well as providing company to those who will not have family or friends visit over the Christmas period.
Marketing manager at Hodge Halsall, Corrine Harris, who has been organising the event, said: “I saw on the Age UK website an article on spotting signs of loneliness and I thought it would be a good idea.
“A few people at work agreed and I decided to use my powers in marketing to set something up and put the feelers out. Queenscourt is our charity of the year and we asked if we could use the Box Tree Kitchen, in Churchtown, that’s run entirely for the charity by volunteers.
“They’re letting us use the venue and provide afternoon tea.”
Corrine has been busy getting in touch with local groups who assist the elderly, so that nobody misses out
She said that she has pulled together a network who will be making the event a special one for all involved.
“I’ve gone around the nursing homes, residential homes, Age UK, Home Instead, they’re all working with us.
“So far, we have 28 guests signed up, they’re going to get a personal invitation to the event. We have a brass band coming, a school choir signed up, Santa’s coming. June’s florist are going to decorate it for us, so it looks Christmassy.
“Everyone in the office is very family-orientated.
“For me, it means a lot, I know what my Grandma was like, we lived next door to her, but even she got lonely during the day if we were all out.
“With Southport having an older age range, I went to this training session last week at Living Well who were doing training on how to talk to people in that environment, and they told us that there are a lot of older people in Southport who go to the community centre and that’s their comfort zone, they don’t know what’s on offer outside of that.
“There might be things going on in the town that they don’t know about, a lot of it is on social media and some people in that generation aren’t particularly tech-savvy.
“Being by yourself isn’t nice for anyone; nobody should be alone, especially at Christmas, so being able to put a smile on their faces is heartwarming, as cheesy as it sounds.”
While Hodge Halsall’s event has reached far and wide, Corrine is conscious that the good work done in the town to help the elderly may be being missed by those it is aimed at.
She hopes to advertise this at the afternoon tea.
“We’re working with Home Instead, who are a care provider for Southport, who offer a befriending service where they match people up if someone wants to stay at home, rather than go into the residential home.
“They’re not the only ones who do it, but it’s brilliant and I don’t know if everyone knows they exist. From setting up this event, I’ve found out what is available,
I’ve got a leaflet that has a schedule of all the activities for older people to attend in Southport.”
The afternoon tea will take place on
Wednesday, December
12, 1-3pm.
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