52 Lives

#235 - 400 Elderly People

Request: Donations / A Graphic Designer / Messages

This week, we’re trying to help a group of 400 elderly folks in Berkshire who are all in self-isolation.

Most live on their own, have no family to support them and have no internet access. There is a wonderful little organisation called Link Visiting who are doing what they can to try to make sure they have everything they need and – most importantly – that they don’t feel scared or alone.

Link Visiting is trying to distribute regular well-being packs to each elderly person in isolation. It will be filled with some essential items, as well as a newsletter to help them stay connected and keep their spirits up. But for the newsletter alone, the printing and postage costs are far too much for such a small organisation to cover.

We would love to help!

What We Need

1. Donations: We need funds to help cover printing and postages costs for the newsletter, and also to help buy goods for the well-being packs. To make a donation, please click the link below.

2. A Designer: We’d love a designer to donate their time to design the newsletter for them – either as a one-off or on a more regular basis. If you can help, please complete the form below to let us know. 

3. Contributors: If you have a brief article you would like to contribute to the newsletter, please complete the form to let us know (ideally something light-hearted or helpful to keep their spirits up).

4. Cards and Messages: We would love to include cards and messages in the well-being packs. To send a message, please either email it to us using the form below (your contact details will not be passed on) or you can post cards to: 52 Lives (Life # 235), PO Box 3154, Reading, RG1 9AT. 

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What We Did

We have also raised more than £1,000 in donations, which will help a small charity called the Link Visiting scheme to send well-being packs to almost 400 elderly people in Berkshire who are in isolation without friends or family to help them. We have also put together a newsletter for them, which will be sent to every single elderly person they support to help them feel connected - we even managed to get some well-known soap stars lined up to write messages in the newsletter (thank you Sherri Hewson!). Link Visiting is also arranging regular phone calls for those on their own.

Thank you Rebecca from the Kind Army for donating her time to design the newsletter . And special thanks to Gala Bingo who once again raised an incredible amount of money .... we couldn’t do any of what we do without the support of this amazing community. Thank you.

These are just a few of the lovely messages we received, which will also be sent to the 400 elderly people who are isolating....