We asked our staff for a Christmas Message to blog this year and were surprised and pleased to have a message of some substance. Here are what one of out teams said:
For the majority of us Christmas is a time to look forward to, time off work to spend with family and friends, overindulgence and presents!
This usually happy time can make people who don’t have family or friends feel even more isolated than normal. Over half of all people aged over 75 live alone and if they don’t have children or friends that live nearby, they can spend the entire Christmas break by themselves.
An elderly person spending Christmas by themselves isn’t just very sad, it can have a detrimental effect on their health. Whilst loneliness isn’t in itself a mental health problem, the two are inextricably linked and this can result in the sufferer’s physical health declining.
So here’s what you can do this Christmas:
Knock on that door and chat to your neighbours, smile at strangers, pick up the phone, make an unexpected visit and if you can make an extra space at your dinner table.
Such small things but they could make a massive difference to someone’s day.
Have a Super Christmas and we look forward to sharing 2020 with you.