Recognising that this festive period will be a tough time for families and individuals, Livv Housing Group has donated a total of £20,000 to provide festive food packages, as well as working on a range of other initiatives, to bring smiles to Knowsley faces this Christmas.
Livv has donated £12,000 to social enterprise Knowsley Kitchen to help them provide food to 250 households in need across the borough throughout the Christmas period. Made up of festive food, treats, fresh fruit and vegetables, the Christmas boxes are being given to those families and individuals who are most vulnerable this festive season, after suffering from the worst impacts of coronavirus. Supporting the logistical distribution of the Christmas boxes, Livv has given the keys of its South Avenue Community Centre to Knowsley Kitchen, enabling the social enterprise to use it as a hub to run its operation from.
In addition, Livv has provided a further £8,000 to supply hampers for single people and couples in need across Knowsley.
Livv’s own crew is ensuring the safe delivery of the festive boxes and hampers, with the housing association supplying several vehicles and workers to distribute them across the borough.
Even closer to home, Livv is making sure all residents in its supported and extra care schemes are looked after this festive period, supplying a choice of Christmas dinners or cold hampers on Christmas Day to those who requested them. In addition, Livv is supporting an intergenerational scheme which will see all 800 residents receive specially designed cards from a local youth organisation.
Vibe, which works with 11 to 25-year-olds across Knowsley, asked its young people to take part in a competition to design a Christmas card for Livv residents in its supported and extra care schemes, which Livv is printing and delivering. Within the cards the young people have added their own personal messages to the Livv residents, telling them that they are thinking of them during this festive period, that they are not alone and that they genuinely care for them.
We have been very moved by the young people’s dedication to this initiative. They have taken part in several sessions to bring the project to life and have put a great deal of time and thought into their designs for the card. In particular some of the personal messages they have added are very emotive and heart-warming.
It’s lovely to see the empathy they have demonstrated for others older than themselves and for helping bridge the generational gap. Several of those involved with the project have said they would like the chance to meet some of the residents when it is safe to do so and we are going to see if we can make this happen later in the year.
We recognise that 2020 has been a difficult year for many people within Knowsley and Merseyside itself and we decided early on that we want to support those who we know will struggle for a variety of reasons. Our borough already faces challenges, being the second most deprived in the UK, and this year has therefore hit many families and individuals here particularly hard. We always want to support our local community but even more so at this time of year and we hope the hampers we have helped provide make a difference to households across the region.
Looking after our older customers during the festive period has been another priority area for us and we’re delighted with the work Vibe has done with our older customers which we know will bring a smile to their faces. Research shows that intergenerational initiatives are beneficial for everyone involved, helping youngsters with their creative and social skills, and bringing about greater confidence and the development of empathy. Older people benefit from the interaction with young people, helping them feel mentally positive and tackling loneliness – which is even more important during the festive period and the pandemic.
