Surprise delivery brings joy for residents isolated during pandemic

A hundred Trafford residents were surprised and delighted to receive a special delivery of afternoon teas last week following a festive initiative from a group of local businesses.

Saica Paper in Carrington, Poppies 11 Coffee Shop in Davyhulme and Elaine’s Creative Cakes in Urmston joined forces to put together 100 boxes containing an afternoon tea. They then asked the Council, community groups and local residents to nominate recipients who may have felt isolated over the past few months by either the coronavirus pandemic or due to living with dementia.

As well as a delicious afternoon tea, for people living with dementia the boxes also contained carefully crafted reminiscence materials, created by Chloe at Poppies 11 Coffee Shop. These were based on ‘Time to Remember’ sessions evoking memories of days gone by that Chloe had been running for people living with dementia prior to the pandemic.

With help from Trafford Veterans CIC, Trafford Council proposed a number of veterans from Urmston and Sale to be included in the scheme and last week they were presented with surprise afternoon teas.

Councillor Joanne Harding, Trafford Council Executive Member for Adult Social Care said:

“This was a lovely idea from Trafford business people and we were delighted to get involved and to be able to direct them to some of the veterans living in our communities.

Many people have sadly felt alone and isolated as a result of the pandemic, and while the Council and public and voluntary sector partners are working together to address this, it is wonderful to have such kind and thoughtful support from local businesses.

The initiative has also made us aware of a number people who were struggling and enabled us to direct them to more support and appropriate services."

Councillor Judith Lloyd, Trafford Council’s armed forces champion said:

"We were delighted to assist with this wonderful gesture for veterans living in Trafford, which was very well received.

I’d like to thank Saica, Poppies 11 and Elaine’s Creative Cakes for their generosity and for bringing some seasonal cheer to people in our communities who really needed it.”