Many of our service users in London have not been able to use our community transport or community buses during the pandemic – as many have been shielding. In the run up to Christmas, we’ve been out spreading some festive cheer…

We provide a range of community transport services aimed at older and disabled people in North and East London – and the community groups who work with them. It’s been an especially difficult year for these service users, many of whom have needed to shield to keep safe. This means that people have not been able to use our services – facing greater isolation and loneliness.  As the festive season approaches, our thoughts are with everyone in our community who can’t see their loved ones or who will be spending Christmas alone.

Even though we can’t take people out this Christmas, we can take a bit of Christmas to them. We’ve sent out a Christmas hamper to some of our service users, delivered by two HCT Group colleagues – Charlie Butler and Danny Auguste – aiming to bring a bit of festive cheer. 

“It was great to bring a smile to their faces” said Charlie. “Some of the service users are quite vulnerable and may not have much contact this Christmas. We wanted to do something to keep people going.

“We heard how important the services were for them, how they rely on them and how hard it has been during lockdown – not being able to see friends and family, not being able to get out and about.”

“It was good to reach out to service regulars for a Christmas surprise” said Danny. “You can’t put a price on it – it was tremendous! They didn’t know what was coming and they were really happy.”

“We couldn’t do any hugging, obviously, we’re all socially distanced, but if we could… We remembered that they’ve barely seen anyone, they’ve been really isolated, so visiting was spot on. It was so good to see the smiles. 

“This year, for everyone, the lamp has burned really low. For me, doing this, it’s lit it right back up. It’s brought the spirit of Christmas.”