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We were delighted to invite some of our members and brilliant volunteers to come together to celebrate Loneliness Awareness Week.
The past year has been super tough for all of us, so we were especially delighted to get some of our members and volunteers together to celebrate Loneliness Awareness Week!
As well as celebrating the fifth anniversary of our annual awareness week, our 'Normal-i-tea' event was a chance to reconnect, have some fun, and eat plenty of cake. It really felt as though things were getting back to normal. In fact, Marmalade member, Carol, told us in the car on the way home; "Oh what a WONDERFUL day!". It made us smile as it just shows that just two hours can really lift the spirits and feel like a whole day of happy memories.
Our event took place at The Orchard at Windmill Hill City Farm, and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect setting. Not only did Windmill Hill City Farm provide fantastic support in hosting the event, but they also provided a delicious cream tea and beautiful flowers for the tables. Thank you to the wonderful Windmill Hill City Farm.
A huge thank you also goes to Harts Bakery and Cakesmiths, who both provided a wonderful selection of cakes.
And last but not least, thank you to Clifton Flowers for providing a stunning bouquet for each member who attended, and another for our founder, Amy, arranged by Direct2Florist.
Amy said: "Its hard to explain what these flowers meant to people, they were absolutely blown away! So touched by the thought. Many of our members had not been out of the house for 18 months so to receive some beautiful flowers as well, was the icing on the cake!"
It was great to have our VIP friends from David Wilson Homes, Grateful Society and Councillor Helen Holland in attendance.
Perhaps the real highlight of the day was seeing mixed tables of members, volunteers & VIPs chatting and laughing together, and seeing wonderful friendships that have developed between some of our members and their companion volunteers throughout lockdown as part of our Winter Companions project.
We also loved watching our lovely volunteers being so kind & gentle in assisting members with mobility problems and hearing everyone say what a lovely time they were having.
Marmalade members Mike and Sylvia met up at the event after not seeing each other for over 15 months. They had been attending the same church lunch group prior to lockdown and didn't realise that they were both members! Mike also knew Councillor Helen Holland! It's a small world.
All-in-all, it was the perfect afternoon to help us ease back into 'Normal-i-tea'.