Community-spirited residents in the borough have been acknowledged at a celebration event for their part in the North Tyneside Council’s ‘Make Christmas Special’ campaign.
North Tyneside Council’s Care and Connect team had met several people who were going to spend Christmas day on their own and there was very little available to them. They also received telephone calls from social work teams asking if they knew of anything that people could be referred to so the team decided they would set themselves a goal to ‘Make Christmas Special’ in 2015.
The council joined forces with its partners, voluntary sector organisations, businesses and local churches to launch the campaign which aimed to make sure no one was eft to celebrate Christmas alone.
Residents across North Tyneside donated Christmas gifts, food for hampers, gift wrap and table decorations. People also volunteers and prepared and served dinner in a community venue, joined in with others on Christmas day, transported people to and from gatherings and helped to indentify people who may have been going to spend Christmas alone.
There were also a range of fundraising efforts across the borough to ensure events and activities could go ahead.
Christmas day lunch and activities were organised across four venues and gave people the opportunity to join others for food, chat and to have a good time on Christmas Day – and 110 people, plus the volunteers, attended the events.
The celebration event, which took place on 10 March at Howdon Community Centre, was held by the council to thank everyone who took part, and plan future events.
North Tyneside Council’s Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn said: “This is a fantastic example of the community spirit we have here in North Tyneside and we felt it was important to acknowledge the people who made it happen.
“The ‘Making Christmas Special’ campaign was a community effort and it made a real different to people’s lives. It’s something we hope will continue and we’re already making plans for the next stage of the campaign which will aim to make Easter time a special occasion for everyone.”
For further information on the campaign, or to get involved in the upcoming ‘Make Easter Special’ campaign contact Care and Connect on (0191) 643 7474 or email care&connect@northtyneside.gov.uk.
ENDS