Annual Resident Christmas Party

Each year, we organise our annual Christmas party for older residents with the Octavia Foundation. This year we celebrated Christmas with 120 residents from the local boroughs of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.

Christmas can be a lonely time with over half (51%) of all people aged 75 and over living alone (ONS, 2010).

The party goers were treated to a delicious Christmas lunch, as well as a raffle for some amazing donated prizes, a live band, dancing, speeches and a visit from Father Christmas. Some volunteers for Grosvenor Estates performed some songs from the shows to keep up the Christmas spirit.

Sainsbury’s Brompton Road very generously donated goody bags for each older person who attended. Many of the attendees have mobility issues which contributes to their isolation so transport and help was arranged to ensure all those who wanted to attend, could.

We support older, isolated and vulnerable people throughout the year with our befriending projects but we know that Christmas is a particularly important time to reach out to those in need. One lady who came to a recent event we held had not left her house in over 2 years; hearing stories like this remind us of how vital and life changing our work can be”

        Reena Mukherji, Director of The Octavia Foundation