Christmas stockings
The journey of a Christmas stocking is one of sharing, giving and joy. The journey serves as a reminder that everybody deserves to wake up on Christmas morning with a heartfelt gift and a smile on their face – and you can make that happen. We know the festive season can be packed, and it can feel like there just isn’t enough time for gifts, socialising and endless food! Luckily the Silver Santa project makes your gifts journey streamlined and simple, making giving joy that little bit easier.
Follow the journey of one our Christmas stockings as it arrived at Acorn Lodge care Home in Nuneaton, ready to be discovered on Christmas Day.
Step 1
Every year, King Edward’s College in Nuneaton runs a volunteering programme to enhance students’ experience outside the classroom. The programme aims to expand their skills and horizons while they give back to their community.
Rachael, the Careers and Progression Leader and her team met with the Friends and the Acorn Lodge’s home manager to discuss ways to benefit residents given the coronavirus restrictions which meant students were not allowed inside the care home.
It was agreed that students could participate in the Friend’s Silver Santa Project, which aims to ensure that every resident gets a gift at Christmas and that Friends had carried out at other care homes before. The goal with Acorn Lodge was to ensure every resident would get a Christmas stocking on Christmas morning.
Step 2
Students put requests for donations up both on Facebook and in college. They then approached local shops and collected contributions, including sweets and chocolates and general toiletries, from places like the Body Shop and ASDA.
They also donated extra items to residents thanks to money collected by offering cash for Christmas cards to the staff at King Edward’s. Students also got together to write their own Christmas cards for residents and, to drop items at the care home, they used Christmas sacks that made everything more festive.
Step 3
To their surprise, as they arrived, they found a group of residents sitting there, waiting to thank them. “They were just so appreciative. It was really really lovely,” Rachael says. Knowing that these actions contributed to the residents’ Christmas happiness was a beautiful and significant achievement. The care home staff then arrange for the stockings to be matched to the resident, ready for being discovered on Christmas morning!
Both Friends and staff at King Edward’s appreciate the impact their cooperation has on students as well. During the tough time of the pandemic, it has been ever more meaningful to see and support young people coming closer to the reality of the care home. Hopefully, students will be able to go inside Acorn Lodge again soon and support residents directly with the empathy and kindness they have been showing for years.
Become a Silver Santa
Become a Silver Santa by donating, or support the delivery of presents to residents in care homes this Christmas by volunteering.
By getting involved, you will help bring joy into the lives of the residents. We need the support of your school, your friends, family, sports club – any group at all, or just you yourself to make donations, to wrap and deliver parcels, to hand them out on Christmas morning.
Get involvedWhat a great idea this was! We’re always looking for ways of getting the community more involved with our residents at Christmas and this really hit the spot at so many levels! We can’t say thank you enough!
Came home staff member