Concert, Crafts and Building Confidence

As part of a week of Christmas activities designed to involve all those attending Caring For Life’s daytime therapeutic projects on different weekdays, the Music and Drama Projects laid on a Christmas concert for their friends this week. It can still be intimidating to perform in front of friends, but it’s a great opportunity to build confidence and a sense of belonging.

Following the concert, everyone had a chance to try out some special craft activities. For most people, this was something entirely new to them; another opportunity to build confidence. 

Just attending a project or walking into a Centre full of people can be very intimidating for people who are new to the projects, so it was great to spend time on fun activities, helping to put people at their ease. 

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Stepping up a Gear

Everything has to step up a gear here at Caring For Life as Christmas approaches. We are busy all year round, but this time of the year brings extra activities and responsibilities for us. We are very grateful for the support received at our first Christmas Fayre, and look forward to a second event soon, but it all requires lots of preparation.

Santa arrives on horse and cart for our first Christmas Fayre of 2019.

At Crag House Farm in the centre, where everyone gathers for coffee and for meals, a poster has given advance notice of some special Christmas activities in the week ahead, ensuring that everyone who attends the various therapeutic activity projects gets to join in one of the fun sessions!

Then, alongside all their usual work, the Being There housing support team is busy distributing hampers and gifts to those they support who will not be with us on Christmas Day.

Lots of logistics are involved in ensuring that no one is missed.  Christmas can be a very tough and isolating time for people who may never have had a happy Christmas in the past, or who have no family to be with. So no one minds stepping up a gear to ensure that each person is provided for. 

Our prayer is that our efforts to care for each person will turn their eyes to Christ, as Christmas is all about Him and His incredible love for each of us.

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Seeking Food and Shelter

Caring For Life is blessed to be sited at Crag House Farm, where we see many beautiful sights, even on crisp, frosty, wintry days. The sunrises and sunsets can be amazing at this time of the year and men and women attending daytime therapeutic projects here start to comment when they see a really glorious sunset at the end of the afternoon. 

A closer look enables us to point out lots of birds feeding on the hedgerows and trees around the Farm. With a bumper crop of holly berries this year, we have seen flocks of redwings gobbling up the berries, joined by blackbirds, mistle thrushes and also jays.

The berries form a vital food source, whilst other birds flock to our bird feeding stations. 

The birds have been busily feeding from early morning till almost dark, to stock up on their reserves before very cold nights. Wrens and long tailed tits can also be seen flocking together at sunset, seeking out sheltered spots for a communal roost, to help them survive the night.

At Caring For Life, we receive referrals of people seeking food and shelter all year round, but these requests can increase in the more severe weather. We often need to deliver a food parcel immediately to someone in need, and there may be requests for accommodation which have to be dealt with speedily in a crisis. There is always lots to do for Christmas events, as well as ongoing planning, plus starting to deliver gifts and hampers. But a priority is to seek to ensure that each person has the food and shelter they need.

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