2020 was an exceptionally hard year for a lot for people. For many seniors in aged care facilities, Covid has meant usually scheduled trips outside were cancelled and the world became that much smaller. It caused strain on not being able to have family visit. Also there were a lot of vulnerable members in the community who became lonely as a result of not being able to socialise due to restrictions. Things were in dire need of some Christmas spirit.
FAIRWAY HOSTEL
So BCER wanted to bring some Christmas joy and we put together comfort packs for residents and main carer staff at Fairway Hostel in Sandringham, which included card games, Christmas hats, cups, soaps, lotions, sun hats for summer and Christmas bon-bons, to mention a few items.
Thank you to Margaret Malloch Walker and Leslie Brewer who packed our Christmas comfort packs, and to Alison Powell and Hampton Primary for the handmade gift tags from the children.
And thank you to Tonianne from Fairway Hostel for picking up our Christmas comfort packs and seeing they got to the residents and the main carers on staff!
BAYSIDE CITY COUNCIL PARTNERSHIP
We joined forces with Bayside City Council and put together 300 Christmas care packs, to be delivered by Bayside Council to vulnerable residents over 65 that had been identified by the councils community care workers as experiencing isolation or loneliness.
The Christmas care packs were distributed from mid-December onwards and include masks, hand sanitizer, crossword puzzle book, Christmas ornament and wonderful handmade cards from the children at Black Rock Pre-School with festive messages and good wishes.
Deputy Mayor Cr Sonia Castelli joined the group to help pack the kits and learn more about the fantastic work of Bayside Community Emergency Relief Group.
Thank you to everyone involved!