We celebrated our Winter Giving Week from 6th to the 12th of December 2021, hosting various different events and organising donations to help spread the festive spirit and help those most in need during the holiday season. Here’s a review of what we got up to!
Christmas Party for the Homeless
Our first event was a party over at the Huggard Centre for the homeless. The event was set-up by decorating a Christmas tree and laying out the food display, all items of which had been generously donated or handmade by volunteers and friends of SVC. A big thank you to everyone who donated!
The volunteers hosted a variety of Christmas themed activities to bring the festive spirit to the Huggard Centre. They began with a Christmas quiz, with questions based on Christmas movies, traditions, Christmas ‘Past & Present’ and ‘Global Christmas’. This was followed by Christmas music bingo, and finished with karaoke including Christmas songs, and there were prizes given for all winners throughout the day. There were also options for people to do festive crosswords or word searches or decorate Christmas cards.
Everybody had an amazing time with everyone busy and taking part, and the event even ran over as everyone was having so much fun. It was great to see so many people getting involved and to see everyone from SVC and the Huggard Centre enjoying their experience.
We also collected donations on behalf of the Huggard Centre, including toiletry and self-care items. We were very proud to see so many people from the community gather donations in support of the Huggard Centre. Your kindness and generosity is greatly appreciated!
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Training
On 7th December we were lucky enough to have Karen Harvey-Cooke, SVC Board member and Chair of Enfys (the Cardiff University LGBT+ Staff Network) deliver an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training session via Zoom. The session was incredibly informative, with discussions around topics such as racial inequality, gender inequality and how this can impact the workplace, and the session also utilised research articles and videos for discussion as a group. Huge thank you to Karen for running such a thought-provoking session!
Digital Christmas Party for Disabled Adults
Our staff team alongside two members of the peer-led team organised a Zoom Christmas party for our beneficiaries at Innovate Trust. At the party, we had entertainment from Chris Kelly, a local musician, as well as from our friends Shiny Happy People. We also had an online raffle, with prizes donated from lots of different businesses with many of them being local, such as Pettigrew Tea House, The Glee Club and Clwb Ifor Bach. The party even had a disco at the end! We had over 40 participants and was enjoyed by all - thank you to our performers and to everyone who donated a raffle prize.
Walking Rescue Dogs at Cardiff Dogs Home
Johnny from our staff team as well as nine volunteers went down to Cardiff Dog’s Home and took some of their dogs out for a walk, both individually and in pairs, to help them get some exercise. There’s lots of dogs at the centre, and so exercising them all sufficiently can be difficult for the staff. The volunteers walked the dogs for around an hour and a half in the local area and all of the volunteers had a lovely time, most if not all even signed up with the Dog’s Home to be regular volunteers! If you’re interested in signing up to volunteer with the dogs home, see more information here.
Christmas Cakes, Cuppa & Chat at Ronald McDonald House
We also organised a cake stand in the social room of Ronald McDonald House, a centre which supports families with critically ill children in hospital. We bought along some festive baked goods like mince pies, decorate your own gingerbread Christmas tree and yule logs.
Volunteers had the opportunity to be shown around the house by the staff team, and so were able to see one of the rooms, the kitchens and the lounges. They had a great time asking questions to the staff about their roles and the work that the houses do, so a huge thank you to the staff over at Ronald McDonald House for being so welcoming.
Handmade Christmas Cards Appeal
Throughout our Winter Giving Week, we were accepting handmade cards to be distributed to patients in hospitals over the festive period, to send the message that someone cares about them and spread some festive joy to people who might be struggling. Here’s an example of some cards we received and passed on to the NHS:
If you’re feeling inspired by our Winter Giving Week and want to get involved in some of our volunteering projects, take a look here at the projects we’re currently recruiting for.
