On Christmas Day we visited participants from our POOL Together programme which is supported by Barclays UK. The people that we visited would be lonely or isolated on Christmas Day and we gifted them a hamper and cards made by local school children.
One of the gentlemen who received a visit was so touched that he contacted Rachel from our Community Navigation Team in the new year to express his appreciation. He stated that he was so touched that he cried when he looked at the cards on his fireplace and wished to send a donation to Blackpool FC Community Trust. Two days after this interaction, Rachel received a cheque in the post from this grateful participant.
It was important to the Community Engagement Team that the money was used for something that the gentleman is a part of and involved in. Unfortunately, he has been quite unwell since December, during this time, Rachel came up with some ideas and called him to offer her thoughts. He was very excited about one idea which involved a Random Act of Kindness within the provision that he takes part in.
The Community Navigation Team used the donated cheque to buy 20 football club mugs and chocolates and put together a gift for each participant who attends our social group, Extra Time. This group takes place every Monday afternoon from 1 pm and runs for two hours. Our Older Adults provision would not be able to take place without the funding from Barclays UK. Most of the people who attend our Extra Time sessions are lonely and isolated and have been referred to our programmes through POOL Together. The group has been described as a lifeline by some of the participants.
They were astonished by the gifts that were delivered to them on Monday. They couldn’t believe that they had been considered and all gave their thanks to the gentleman who made the donation. One participant stated, “I can’t believe how generous he has been to do this for us, this is so lovely, it has made my day.”
When he is feeling up to it Rachel is going to take photos of the generous donor being handed gifts to show how impactful his random act of kindness has been on a dull Monday in February to a group of deserving participants.
If you’d like to get involved with any of our community or older adults provision, visit our website www.bfcct.co.uk or email info@bfcct.co.uk.
