GWP is helping the Marmalade Trust bring festive cheer to hundreds of local people for a third consecutive year.
Having worked with the Bristol-based loneliness charity in 2022 and 2023, GWP has once more donated hundreds of cardboard boxes for the charity’s Christmas Cheer initiative. Marmalade Trust volunteers will decorate and fill the boxes with gifts before distributing them to individuals experiencing loneliness during the festive period.
The hampers are part of a broader project that entails doorstep visits by volunteers alongside organizing and funding Christmas Day meals in pubs and restaurants for those who would otherwise spend the day alone. Last year, the initiative reached over 200 people throughout Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.
What is the Marmalade Trust’s Christmas Cheer initiative?
The charity’s Christmas Cheer initiative aims to bring joy and companionship to those on their own on Christmas Day. It includes lunch in a local restaurant and a hamper full of gifts. The charity also provides doorstep visits to those unable to leave their homes.
The initiative aims to reach anyone who feels particularly lonely and isolated, such as an older person who may have no family or friends nearby. Everyone is made to feel part of the Marmalade family.
Gemma Brown, Christmas Cheer Event Coordinator at the Marmalade Trust, commented:
” While there is growing awareness of people experiencing loneliness at any time of year, it is at this festive time that those without their own connections can feel especially lonely. This can lead to feelings of sadness, further isolation and even dread as adverts show scenes of gladness and joy on our televisions. “