People in residential homes and supporting housing facilities across Hull have been treated to a gift of some handcrafted Christmas cards and decorations this festive season.
#WeMadeThis are a self-funded community group in Hull who try to make crafting more accessible to people in Hull and the surrounding areas by launching large-scale craft projects that anyone can get involved in. They approached residential homes and supporting housing facilities across the city and beyond to get on board with their Christmas Wishes initiative in order to bring some festive joy to care home residents who may not get to see many friends or relatives this Christmas.
The Christmas Wishes project saw people invited to design their own card or Christmas decoration to share or exchange with a care resident. Crafters of cards and decorations included schools and nurseries, youth groups, community groups, many individual creatives and people living in residential homes and supported housing facilities.
Pennine Resource Centre based in Bransholme got involved in the project.
Janet Adamson from #WeMadeThis, who launched the project said: “We weren’t able to relaunch our previous festive project of community tree decorating due to the pandemic, so we had to think of something different.
“We realised that some residents in care homes may not see many visitors around Christmas and some do not receive many cards or gifts either. That’s when we decided to launch the Christmas Wishes project.
“By contacting care homes across the city, we were made aware of around 550 residents who might need some extra attention this Christmas. We wondered how we might manage to reach this target, but the project grew and we ended up with 32 care homes on board. Overall, we have distributed over 1,500 handmade cards and decorations, almost triple our original target – and growing!”
Councillor Gwen Lunn, Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care said: “This is a wonderful initiative and I want to express my admiration for #WeMadeThis and everybody who took the time to craft a card or gift for a care resident this Christmas.
“It’s not been an easy time for care staff or residents, so seeing this project take off is a joy to see.”
The group hope to finish distributing the cards and decorations by the end of this week. You can read more about #WeMadeThis by visiting their website or their Facebook group called #WeMadeThis – Work in Progress.
