A present from us

Here at Dutton we know that Charity isn’t just for Christmas, that’s why we’re involved all-year-round. This year we have focussed our fundraising and donations at Sheffield Children’s Hospital – including getting involved in Jessops Superheroes and helping to fund a new Ward.

However, there’s always more that you can do. This Christmas we decided to designate some time to a slightly different group of people, the elderly. With the increasing loneliness of the elderly in the news, we decided we wanted to do something to help.

Working closely with lots of Care Homes, we know that many people may not have any family to visit them at Christmas and may not receive any presents or home comforts at all.  According to Age UK, Christmas is considered the loneliest time of year for more than 1.5m older people.

In fact, they estimate that 200,000 people will be spending Christmas alone this year. Loneliness can often be underestimated, but it can significantly impact wellbeing - it is associated with depression end even impaired cognitive function.

We decided to do our bit to help combat loneliness by hand-delivering Christmas care packages to residents at some of the homes we work with, as a little Christmas present from us.

We made up these care packages with items that residents actually need, with the help of many of our experienced staff who knew exactly what we needed to buy.

They explained to us that toiletries should be a priority, with toothbrushes, toothpaste, a comb and shower gel topping the list. We decided that they should also be a bit fun as well, so included some After Eights, a handwritten card, and a Santa hat for everyone as well. The final selection of items is below:

Our Consultants, Ashley, Ajay and Matt will be out delivering dozens of these packages in the run-up to Christmas, focussing on residents that have little to no family. Hopefully, a little gift from us, delivered with a handwritten card can help spread a bit of Christmas joy!

Over the festive season, we should all take time for those who may be a bit lonely. Whether it’s a simple hello when you’re out and about or spending extra time with our elderly relatives – it all helps to brighten up a day.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone here at Dutton Recruitment!