Cheshire-based mental health charity Chapter has launched a crowd-funding campaign to provide Christmas meals for people across the region who will be isolated during the festive season.
Chapter is seeking support from people in the community to host a Christmas event that will connect people in Cheshire who are living with serious mental illnesses and may otherwise spend Christmas Day alone.
This has been an annual event hosted by Chapter for its service users. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was cancelled in 2020. This had a devastating impact for potential attendees who had no other plans for the holidays.
Determined for it to go ahead this year following the COVID-19 lockdown, Chapter is kindly asking for support from individuals and businesses alike to raise the £3,113 it needs to pull off the event this Christmas.
Daniel Rogers, CEO of Chapter, commented: “Christmas can be a very lonely time for many people in our community, and at Chapter we see first-hand how much this can impact someone’s mental well-being.”
“In previous years, our annual Christmas meal has helped to reduce isolation by giving people who would otherwise have no plans the opportunity to make new friends and celebrate the holidays together.”
“The pandemic has been extremely challenging for those who are on their own and living with mental ill-health. Knowing how vital this event will be for them, we are determined for it to go ahead in 2021.”
Chapter is crowdfunding the Christmas event as part of Cheshire West Crowd, a new project in which Cheshire West And Cheshire Council is using the crowdfunding platform Spacehive to provide opportunities for community initiatives to access funding.
Individuals and businesses can like, follow and pledge a donation to Chapter’s event via Spacehive. Chapter hopes that, with the more support it gets from the community, the Council will provide additional backing.
To like, follow or pledge a donation to Chapter’s Christmas meal event, visit:
www.spacehive.com/christmasmealformentalhealth
If the £3,113 isn’t raised by the end of November, backers and pledgers will receive their money back.
The full sum will enable Chapter to pay for a Christmas meal and entertainment for 45 people with serious mental ill-health in a venue in Chester.
One of Chapter’s clients, who attended the Christmas event in 2019, said: “The Christmas meal was a life saver. I had something to look forward to after being unwell and after Christmas I felt I knew more people at Chapter.”
Another commented: “It was a lovely, and I think I’m not alone in saying I really appreciate the quality of the event. I felt valued as a human being for the first time in years.”
In 2020, a study by Crisis found that one in six adults across the United Kingdom will be spending Christmas alone. Based on these findings, approximately 50,000 people in the Chester and West Cheshire area will be isolated during this time of year.
