Member Article

Lonely This Christmas

‘What can I do without you? I got no place, no place to go’ – Mud, Lonely This Christmas

So it’s that time of year again, we’re trimming trees, putting up lights and gearing up for the hustle and bustle of last minute shopping. Personally, I love this time of year. Strangely, I quite like wrapping up against icy winter breezes and battling the elements, though admittedly not as much as I like cozying up on the couch with a hot chocolate.

For months now we’ve been tossing ideas around the office of what type of video we should do this Christmas, looking into Christmas themed weddings and watching the likes of Love Actually and Sleepless in Seattle a few too many times. Until it dawned on us that, rather than just producing a typical video Christmas card, this year we could try to make a difference.

We are in an amazing business where we get to witness the start of people’s married lives; sending them off into a future that will hopefully span decades. And when you spend your days immersed in the beginning of such stories it’s easy to forget about the end. Unfortunately, it’s a sad fact that there are many people who find themselves alone in their later years; left without the person they made a life with. It’s difficult for someone not in that situation to imagine how lonely it must get and how isolated they must feel, especially at this time of year.

We came across Contact the Elderly; an organisation dedicated to helping elderly people who are struggling with loneliness. They give them opportunities to make connections and friendships and allow them to develop a support network that can combat their solitude. Monthly tea parties are arranged for people aged 75 and over who live alone and I don’t know about you but I love a tea party, especially when they have those little cakes!

More importantly, these tea parties give the groups a chance to mingle and meet new people, then as the months go by acquaintances turn into friends and hopefully the loneliness disappears.

Imagine having no friends to pull your cracker, no family to complain about the sprouts, no one fighting for room on the couch to watch the Queen’s Speech, Doctor Who or the Eastenders Christmas Special!

No one should be alone at Christmas, and since the spirit of Christmas is all about caring for other people, this year we’re using our Christmas Video to try and raise some money to help Contact The Elderly; to allow them to reach out to even more people during this festive season, and make life a little brighter for those with an empty house this year.

Please, if you can, change someone’s life - donate to the fundraiser at www.justgiving.co.uk/contact-the-elderly-video-project, and give just one more gift this Christmas.

From everyone at Absolute Media North East; Merry Christmas and thank you.

To find out more about the charity visit: www.contact-the-elderly.org.uk/

Video - https://vimeo.com/80601297

Donation link - http://www.justgiving.com/contact-the-elderly-video-project

Blog - http://www.absolutemedianortheast.co.uk/blog.html

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Absolute Media Weddings .