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Please get in touch using the Contact form or by emailing admin@carecent.org.uk if you would like to receive our Supporters’ Newsletter – this is usually sent out twice a year.
Carecent Supporters’ Winter Update, January 2021
Dear Friends
No-one could have predicted that we would still be unable to reopen by the New Year, and yet here we are. Please accept our warmest wishes for a brighter 2021!
Carecent’s response… keep calm and keep on carrying on!
Carecent continues to provide packed lunches six mornings a week, with volunteers working in small socially-distanced teams. These lunches are distributed from the church porch, which allows a good queuing system, and means that we have also been able to offer tea and coffee from a second doorway – very popular with our customers.
We do not anticipate that the latest lockdown will affect our running, given that neither of the two previous lockdowns stopped us from providing food to those in need. Our operating procedures are considerably more robust than they were when we were simply reacting day to day to the unfolding situation back in March 2021, so we are confident that we are able to face this new challenge.
The customers continue to be a huge support to us – they are understanding and unfailingly grateful for this vastly reduced service. They say that we have kept the Carecent community going, but in reality, they have done much of that work themselves. As we begin this new year it’s great to be able to say that morale continues to be high. We are all tremendously grateful to those who support us in any way at all.
Christmas 2021
Although we couldn’t invite people inside for our usual festive sit-down lunch, we managed to hold a Christmas lunch buffet takeaway!
Thanks to some very generous donations, we provided huge turkey sandwiches with stuffing, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets and gravy, all in unlimited quantities, and it was a very happy occasion with satisfied customers declaring that they “couldn’t eat another thing” – the hallmark of any successful Christmas dinner.
Everyone took away a bag of cakes, chocolate, mince pies and other treats as well as a present bag, and there was enough food left over to provide a fantastic Boxing Day takeaway as well.
Thank you to everyone who made this possible.
What are our current needs?
We remain very grateful for donations of any of the following:
- Individual juice cartons
- Sandwich fillings – cheese / cold meat / cans of tuna – anything!
- Chocolate biscuits (individually wrapped, eg Penguins etc)
- Crisps
-
Fresh Fruit
Donations can be brought to Carecent between 8am and 9am, Monday to Saturday. Please ring 01904 624244 and someone will come to the gate to take your donation. Financial donations can be sent by cheque to Carecent, Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, York YO1 8NQ, or please get in touch for our bank details to make a direct payment. Alternatively, donations can now be made via PayPal using this link https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/carecentyork
And finally… an important introduction
It’s a great pleasure to be able to announce that Catherine Tottie has been appointed as Carecent Project Leader. Cat and Nicky will work together until 31st March when Nicky finally hands over, but we are very excited that this period of joint working will ensure a seamless transition!
A message from Cat:
First of all, hello! It is so exciting to finally be able to share that I have begun as Project Leader for Carecent. I have volunteered for the project for several years and it is a cause that is very close to my heart. I am excited for what the future holds, and for what Carecent can offer to improve the happiness and health of its service users.
What COVID has highlighted is just how much Carecent means – to the regulars, the volunteers, the supporters and the wider community around the city. It is so motivating to take on the job during such a time of flexibility and resilience. Despite the uncertainty we are all feeling, I am confident that Carecent will continue to offer support where it is needed most, and am looking forwards to the day when we can safely return to something like normal.
I am thoroughly enjoying getting started as Project Leader and look forwards to getting to know people better as time goes on – and hopefully thanking folks in person one day. Until then, thank you for your continued support, and I hope all are able to keep positive and look forwards to brighter days ahead.
With kindest regards
Cat & Nicky
Nicky Gladstone and Cat Tottie
Project Leaders, Carecent
January 2021