The build up to Christmas is busy at Genesis with lots of fun and festivities shared. So many people are involved in making this a reality – clients, volunteers and staff alike. Here’s what we’ve been up to.
Christmas Crafts
Every November and December we offer a Christmas Craft course at Genesis Life Projects (Life Skills) for our clients. It is run by one of our faithful volunteers, Shirley Nevell. She comes up with some amazing craft ideas. Our clients have such a good time together, creating some beautiful Christmas cards, decorations and gifts. We took lots of photos to share with you, see more photos below.
Christmas Dinner
On the 18th of December we will provide a much-anticipated Christmas dinner for our clients and many others in need in our community at Christmas time. This year it will be hosted and cooked by volunteers from St John the Evangelist’s Church for which we are so very grateful. This meal is so important as many of the people we support do not have a family Christmas to look forward to. For some it will be the only Christmas celebration they have and we are blessed to be sharing it with them.
We are so thankful for the volunteers at St John the Evangelist’s Church for cooking such an amazing Christmas dinner this Thursday (and last year). We are excited that in the new year we will be back in our Gateway Centre and next Christmas, can also host a dinner for our clients.
This week, the office received lots of Christmas cards for us to hand out to guests at the Christmas meal. These are thanks to B&NES Third Sector Group (3SG), a membership network for hundreds of charities in B&NES. Each year they organise these Christmas cards, written by local school children for people who need a bit of joy over Christmas. It was such a treat last year for our clients, so we can’t wait to give them out this year.
Donated Winter Clothes
We put out an appeal for winter clothes last October. What a response we have had! A big thank you to everyone who has donated. We are so grateful for your generosity. We’ve had approximately 40 bin bags full of coats, trousers, jumpers and much more. These have been or will be used by homeless and vulnerable people in our community. The clothes will be vital in the coldest months ahead of us and will act as a stepping stone in building trusting relationships with our clients. It is in the longer-term support that clients can thrive, with lasting change for their lives ahead.
Care Package for clients
Last week we had a team of volunteers in our office to organise the many donated care package items for our clients. Thank you to Rebecca and Grace from L&C Mortgages, Ricky from HSBC and Carl from CGI. They did an amazing job and even had time to sort through all our winter clothes donations too.
The care package items were sorted into gift bags which will be given to our clients this Christmas. We want to thank Kingswood School and Sun Chemical for their generous donations. Items include Christmas goodies as well as more practical items such as toiletries, breakfast bars and batteries. These are vital for our homeless clients, in particular. You can see the type of things on our care package list here.
As well as spreading a bit of joy with these gift bags, we aim to build trust through the practical gifts, which will lead to longer-term support through things like one-to-one meetings. It is here that clients can begin to journey towards a better future for themselves.
Bath Christmas Market
On Thursday 27th November we kitted out a Bath Christmas Market chalet with all things Genesis. Thank you to everyone who made knitted stockings and craft decorations. The knitted teddies were a hit! We sold Christmas cards, coffee cups and lots of handmade items making an incredible £760 to support our clients.
There were lots of meaningful conversations had with both locals and visitors (as far as India and Canada). Thank you to all the Bath Uni students, clients and volunteers who came to help on the day. We couldn’t have done it without you. It was a wonderful way to get into the festive spirit together.
Foodbank Food Drive
On 27th-29th November, Tesco hosted the Bath, Keynsham & Somer Valley Foodbank at their stores in Keynsham and Midsomer Norton for a food drive. Much of what was collected was from our most needed items list as well as festive treats. We want to thank the community for their generosity. We collected approximately 3,150kg of food over the six sessions!
Thank you to all the volunteers who came to hand out lists, hold buckets and chat with local shoppers about Foodbank. We are so grateful to you for giving up your time to provide food for others in your community. We couldn’t run the foodbank without you.
The festive treats collected will bless families and individuals facing crisis this Christmas. The most needed items we collected are vital to continue our support through the winter months.
Christmas Appeal
Our Christmas Appeal started on 25th November and runs through to mid-January. We are so grateful for all the support we have already received. This year’s focus is on having a safe place to call home. To read Dean’s story, please head to our Appeal Page. If you are able to give, please donate here. Thank you for your support.
As you can see, there is a great deal of festive fun going on. We are so thankful to be involved in all these events and for all the people who make it all happen. Our aim is to bring some Christmas joy for our clients and it’s all made possible through the generosity of volunteers, staff and supporters of Genesis Trust and Foodbank. Thank you to you all.
We’d also like to thank all the organisations, schools, churches and groups who have held collections at their own festive events to raise money or items for Genesis and Foodbank. The support we get from across the community is so touching and we are so grateful to have your collective support. Thank you.
From all at Genesis, Merry Christmas to you.
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